Uh-oh.

“And then!?” Tundra shouted happily as her ears wiggled a little. She looked as if she was half a moment from pouncing out of her seat at Lawrence. He was sitting across from her, relaxing a bit on a couch with a glass of one of his favorite spirits. He looked far too calm compared to Tundra’s utter thrill.

“Then we feasted. And did other things,” Lawrence said, and I noted his left eye twitch a bit. He had been about to say something else, and had just barely stopped himself from doing so. The poor man kept forgetting the girl in front of him was young. Too young, really.

“And the pack leader? Was she able to eat a lot!?” Tundra asked, not letting Lawrence move on from the story just yet.

I stepped away, wanting to smirk and chuckle at them as I did. I didn’t though, since I was now a little bit worried.

Tundra liked Lawrence a tad too much. It was a good thing he was old enough to know better.

“Well…” Lawrence’s voice faded as I stopped listening and headed down the hallway, looking for another headache to occupy my time.

It wasn’t that the young wolf was necessarily annoying. She was just… full of energy. Typical for a predator like her. She needed something to do. Something to actually do, and not just sweeping floors or sorting books or something. She needed something to do that expended all that energy she had been born with. Sadly though, I wasn’t sure what to really have her do. The depot, or the ships, would do best for her… they’d let her work her muscles hard, but we couldn’t really just let her do such a thing.

A little girl, who looked so scrawny a breeze could snap her in half, should not be seen lifting full barrels and crates with ease. The humans, especially the ones here who now fully believed in monsters thanks to Fly’s Masters, should not be seeing such a thing.

But maybe it was a mute point. Although Tundra seemed to like Lawrence, a man who had known a pack of wolves like herself, she also seemed intent to follow Renn north. I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out, but… well…

“Not like I can stop her,” I mumbled as I rounded a corner.

Although I had no real destination in mind, I found myself heading out of the housing area of the Animalia Company building and heading for the main entrance. I didn’t have any plans to leave, since I had to escort Tundra back to the cathedral before nightfall, but I also felt like I needed to busy myself.

Renn was off doing something with Reatti, again, and honestly I didn’t even want to know what they were up to. They had snuck away sometime this morning, giggling as they did like children up to no good.

Which was fine, honestly. I was actually very… happy that Renn had friends. Especially since last time we’d left here they all had been half a step from banishing her outright from this place, and not just on contingency.

Actually it was kind of… odd how much everyone seemed to have forgotten such a thing. As if it had never even happened in the first place…

Coming to a stop in the middle of a hallway, I frowned as I realized something was off about it. The kind of off that made me question it entirely, and…

“Vim!”

I blinked out of my thoughts and turned to find Tosh. He hurried up to me, smirking at me as he held up a leather pouch. “Guess what I just got!”

“Smells like oiled leather,” I said.

“Close, it’s a bag of whale intestines!”

“What…?” I now expected a joke, since there was no way the bag was made from such a thing.

“Look!” Tosh then opened the bag to show me, and I flinched at the smell.

I see. I had misheard, or well, misunderstood. He hadn’t meant a bag made of whale intestines, but instead a bag of them. He had a bag full of ambergris, the stuff that was made in their intestines.

“Where’d you get that?” I asked.

“Ronalldo just docked this morning. He and his crew found a dead whale and harvested it. You should have seen Brandy’s face when she heard, I was lucky to get this much,” Tosh said.

Great. Maybe that was what Reatti and Renn had run off for then, to join Brandy in seeing the spoils of such a catch.

Wonder how Renn fared with such a stink.

“Well… congratulations, I guess. Going to make candles with them or something?” I asked.

“Was thinking that and drinks. Though if I’ll be able to do so without getting kicked out is another question,” Tosh said with a smirk.

I nodded. Using the stuff to make spirits or rum was indeed something you could do… though if it was tasty or not was another question.

“Want some?” Tosh then asked.

I shook my head and smiled. “Thank you but no.”

“Hm. Renn hadn’t wanted any either. The smell you think?” Tosh asked, confirming my suspicions.

“Very likely.”

He chuckled at that and tied up the bag, though it barely hid the bad smell coming from it. “I’m going to go properly store the stuff then! Later!”

I waved him goodbye and watched him run off back the way I’d just came. To the housing area.

“I’m glad he’s doing well,” I whispered. Renn and the others had mentioned he had seemed a bit… depressed. But honestly he seemed to be doing fine. I had spent a few hours with him yesterday, just talking and stuff, and was glad to find that he now remembered everything. And although he was sad, and unsure of what to do, he was at least active and able to enjoy the simpler things in life.

Simpler things…

Heading for the entrance once again, I found myself being stopped not far from it. Magdalena walked over, carrying a clipboard and grinning happily.

“Hey Vim!” she greeted me, and once again I noticed the kiss marks on her neck.

I’d congratulated her already, for finding love and a mate, and honestly I was glad for it. She used to be one of the ones who tried to flirt and sneak into my room when I visited here, before Renn. “Magda. If Brandy catches you sneaking off you’re going to get a headache from her nagging,” I warned.

Magdalena blushed and laughed, and waved me off a bit. “I didn’t sneak off! I spent the night with him! I just got back, I’m not late for work, I promise!”

Oh. Right. That made a lot of sense actually… “Right… sorry, I was just teasing a little,” I said. It wasn’t as if Brandy, or anyone actually, would fault Magda even if she did sneak off occasionally. There was a reason we had hundreds of human employees here, after all.

“I know…! Gosh, you and everyone else! I’m glad everyone’s happy for me, but I swear! I almost miss talking about the weather!” she said with a stupid grin. She didn’t seem to actually mind talking about her new love life at all, based off her happy tone.

“Watch, most of them will end up doing the same as you Magda, so just return the favor when you can,” I said.

She tilted her head at that. “Oh… right? You’re actually very right, aren’t you? I wonder who will find a mate next? My money’s on Tosh,” she said.

“Tosh?” I asked. Really? The man may be returning to normal, but in his perspective his wife, the love of his life, had just been ruthlessly taken from him. Even though it had been almost a hundred years ago.

She nodded. “I saw him talking, or well… flirting, you know how he is, with some of them the other day when they came over to visit.”

Ah. She was interpreting his flirting as something more than it was. She had not known him before his… mental crisis, had she? “Personally I hope it’s Brandy. She could for once learn to focus on something other than money,” I said.

Magdalena laughed at that and shook her head. “No chance!”

Right?

“Ah! I got to go, Vim, or else I really will be late! See you later!” she then startled and hurried off, because she’d seen someone else down the hall. I studied the person, not recognizing them, but the human had the back office attire on. Likely someone she was supposed to have a meeting with, or give orders to, and was late in doing so.

Sighing gently at her I returned once more to head for the main entrance.

This time I actually made it to the entrance without being stopped. I spent a few moments just… watching people come and go. Humans were like always, busy people. Always in a rush, and half the time it seemed as if they themselves had no idea where it was they were rushing to.

I felt that way lately. Before encountering Stance, I had felt lost… now though? Now I felt like I was messing up terribly because I wasn’t hurrying to do whatever it was I was actually meant to be doing.

But what was I to do about it…? It wasn’t as if I could just run off and abandon Renn and the Society. Even if I did… where would I go and what would I do?

A part of me wanted to search for more gods, since Stance’s arrival had been so… odd and sudden. But to do so would mean to not just abandon Renn and the Society but likely lose them completely. By the time I found any other gods, then dealt with them, the Society and Renn would likely long be gone… not from my absence, but simply from time.

“Would you like some help sir?”

I turned to find a younger woman. One wearing the simple teller attire here at the guild, a human girl who was likely just recently hired based off her age.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

She tilted her head but nodded at me. She stepped away, and I watched her for a moment since she kept glancing at me. But not in a good way. She must think I was odd just standing here and walking around… Though it might also be my attire. I wasn’t wearing anything to let anyone know I was associated with Animalia Guild in anyway. I was just wearing the basic stuff that I usually wore under my traveling gear.

I stopped paying attention to the young girl as she walked over to speak with some other workers. I instead focused on an older man, one who was reading from one of the many bulletin boards situated around the entrance. I knew on that board were many things. Job listings, date listings for certain appointments and events, prices and fees for consultations and other things the company offered to the public, and so forth. He could also just be reading things to occupy his time, waiting for an associate to finish their own work here.

As I stood there, watching the place… I had to like always accept a rather odd fact.

The world always kept turning. Going about its own business. No matter how chaotic life felt, or seemed, the general world just… didn’t notice typically.

Even back when monarchs and gods had been causing utter chaos, the people who had lived under such a hostile environment hadn’t known any different. To them such calamitous weather patterns, monsters lurking all around, and just a general chaotic environment was… normal. To be expected. They had not liked it, but it had been normal to them. So they had been… calm in their own way about it too.

Not that my own life had really been chaotic lately. So what if I was encountering more monarchs than usual? So what if the Society was being annoying, and there was a bunch of people doing things I didn’t agree with or understand? Such things were normal. To be expected. Even a god showing up occasionally was…

“Okay maybe not,” I mumbled. That wasn’t normal at all. Not anymore.

“Vim?”

I turned and found a new face, again. I didn’t recognize the woman who smiled at me, and then she gestured behind her. The young girl from earlier walked up, her head a little low even though she was staring at me with wide eyes.

Uh oh, what’d I do this time? Who was this? One of the human supervisors it seemed, based on…

“Your daughter is it?” I asked as I remembered who she was. Or rather, I didn’t remember her name… but I remembered her story. She had a pair of daughters, sing and song, or something like that.

“Yes! I’m so glad you remembered! This one is Sing,” she said as she gestured for the girl to step up and introduce herself.

The young woman gave me a nervous smile. “Sorry about that, Mr. Vim… I um… didn’t know who you were,” Sing apologized for earlier as she held out her hand.

I took the young girl’s hand, and gently shook it. “Hm? It’s fine. That’s your job, to make sure weirdo’s like me don’t linger here and bother everyone.”

She gave me a half-forced smile as she nodded. “Isn’t she adorable, Vim?” the mother asked.

“Yes?” I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Was that just a mother’s doting love, or something more?

“She’s being weird, Mr. Vim. One of the customers complimented us the other day and she’s been like this since,” Sing said with a sigh.

Ah… I blinked as I remembered her name. “So Clair, did you introduce them to Renn yet? She’d love to hear them sing,” I said. Renn had once mentioned she had wanted to meet the girls with such odd names.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Sing went red in the face as her mother sighed and shook her head. “They’re horrible singers, Vim. They don’t live up to their names at all! But no, I was hoping to let them meet her before you two leave again, but we’ve not had the chance.”

I nodded at that. “I’ll make sure she knows. She’s been busy lately, we all have I think,” I said.

“Of course! If she’s too busy we can always do it another time, so no worries!”

That was the issue, though. Even if Renn and I ever came back here again, after I stepped down, it could be decades from now. And by then…

“Still, I’ll let her know. We should still be here for a bit longer, so there should be plenty of time,” I said.

Sing glanced at her mother, her flushed face now back to normal. She watched her mother nod happily. “I’d like that! She and I had lunch last time you two were here, I had enjoyed that,” Clair said.

Oh…? I hadn’t known that. Typical of Renn though. “She can be a glutton,” I said.

The woman laughed as the daughter gave me an odd look, as if she couldn’t believe a husband had just called his wife a glutton.

Before I could make another joke, as to tease Renn some more, I noticed Merit. She was up on the upper balcony, the one that led to the hallway that led to Gerald’s office. She was glaring down at me, with eyes that told me she wanted to speak to me.

Lightly gesturing at the mother and daughter, I nodded. “Seems I’m to be busy again. It was nice meeting you Sing, I’ll make sure to let Renn know to come say hello to you and your sister before we leave again,” I said.

She nodded quickly as I turned to nod in goodbye to her mother. She gave me a knowing smile as she nodded back and I stepped away, heading for the stairwell which would lead me up to Merit.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I found little Merit standing at the entrance to the hallway. I walked over to her, and wondered if maybe she had been sent to get me for some reason. Had Gerald wanted something from me? Brandy maybe? She was likely still at the port though, dealing with the return of Ronalldo and his ship.

“Good day Merit,” I said in greeting, since this was the first time we’d met so far today.

“Mhm… Can I have a few moments with you?” she asked with a small voice.

Hm…? Was something wrong, I wonder? “Of course Merit.”

She nodded and sighed. “Could we go to the roof? It’s not raining, yet,” she asked.

“Even if it were would it matter?” I asked with a smirk. Did we not just a few days ago sit and talk on the roof together as it poured like crazy?

“No, I suppose not. I was born in the water, and you like getting dirty and wet so that Renn will fuss over you,” she said.

Well if she was able to make little jokes like that, then whatever was bothering her couldn’t be too concerning. “I’ll have you know I took a bath recently,” I said.

“Congratulations. I’ll mark it on the calendar,” she said as we headed down the hallway, passing Gerald’s office and heading for the stairwell which would lead us to the roof. I noted Gerald was in his office as we passed it by, but he wasn’t alone. There were two humans in there with him, and they were talking business.

“Renn’s with the rest at the port, I think,” I told Merit as we climbed the stairs.

“I know. I was with them a few hours ago, Vim,” she said.

Oh. Right… that explained why I hadn’t seen her until now too, then.

“How’s Kevin doing?” I asked. I wasn’t going to ask how Ronalldo was doing, since I doubted Merit cared much about him at all. Unlike the humans Renn was involved with, Ronalldo was under Lawrence’s care not hers.

“Fine? He mentioned you visited him and his family recently, was very excited to talk about that. He also wouldn’t leave Renn alone, but as you’d expect Renn was okay with it. Was the first time they’ve met,” Merit said.

“Renn would meet everyone in the world if she could,” I noted.

“Hmph.”

Merit opened the door to the roof, and we both stepped out into the cold but dry world. I could smell a storm heading our way, but odds are it’d not hit us until late in the night. I followed Merit to the gardens, and watched as she went ahead and picked up one of the buckets from the gardening shed. She didn’t ask me to help, so I didn’t pick up one for myself.

I knew better than to outright step in and tender to her trees and plants. This was her thing, and although she sniveled when no one helped her… I knew it was because we all knew better than to take her little hobby away from her. She didn’t like it when others helped her out, though Renn was likely one of the few who could do so and not get glared at. Sofia too, maybe. Nasba used to hate plants, and hadn’t ever helped even when Merit wanted it, but I doubted Merit would have gotten offended over her helping either.

Me though? I knew better. She’s shocked me more than once because I’d overstepped and in her opinion harmed her plants.

Merit took her bucket to one of the more wild bushes. Some kind of berry bearing one. Though right now there was nothing fruiting upon it. She went to kneeling in front of it, to dig around at its base and into the soaked dirt.

“I thought about it,” she then said.

“Hm,” I nodded, though not because I knew where she was going with this or what she was speaking of. I had simply assumed she had something serious to talk about, and so had been expecting it.

“Don’t stand there acting as if you know what I’m talking about, I’m being serious,” Merit said with a side-glance up at me.

“I don’t, but I figured something was up. You don’t ask to talk privately like this often, Merit, and when you do it’s for good reason,” I said gently.

She glared at me for a long moment… then she sighed and returned her attention to her berry bush. “Were you always like this? Even as a child?” she asked.

Like what exactly…? “I don’t really remember,” I told the truth.

“Wonder what she sees in you…” Merit mumbled as she went to pull a few weeds. They were tiny things, but so were the fingers tugging on them.

I’d ask what she had seen in me herself, but didn’t really want to steer the conversation in that way. So instead I just… stood and waited for her to get through her grumbling and tell me what was actually wrong. I figured it couldn’t be anything too important, since if it had been she’d have brought it up by now.

For a few minutes I just stood there, watching her pluck tiny weeds… ones that were honestly too small to even worry much about. Then finally, once she had a nice little pile of weeds by her feet she glanced up at me again. This time with not as an angry look. “She’s getting close to them, Vim. Too close,” she said.

“Renn and Light and her people, you mean,” I clarified.

She nodded.

I nodded back… and then went ahead and knelt down next to her. It felt silly looking straight down at her, as if she was some little kid. “I know, Merit. But that is her right. And if you’ll forgive a man who is utterly captivated by his wife from speaking with bias, her ability to be friends with so many different types of people is one of her good points, if not her best,” I said.

Merit’s eyes softened a bit, and I was surprised to see she wasn’t upset with what I had said. “Of course, Vim… but it means she’ll be involved. More than she needs to. More than she should.”

“If you don’t think I’ve not been stressing over it, Merit, you’re wrong. But what am I to do…? I can’t kill them. Not only are they proper members of the Society, they haven’t actually done anything wrong. They’re scheming, they use their prophecies for their own devices, but they’ve not outright done anything worth such punishment. And worst off, Light and the others genuinely like her. So their friendship isn’t just one-sided, but something real. Me stopping Renn from associating with them would be the same as if I stopped her from associating with you, just because you’re known as a troublemaker. It’s based on rumors and speculation, not fact,” I said.

She frowned at me. “But why doesn’t she see it, Vim? Why can’t she see that they only like her because of what they foresee? That they only are friendly thanks to their expectations and hopes, not because they actually love her like we do?” Merit asked.

“Can you really say that Merit…?” I asked with a whisper.

Her eyes narrowed at me and she shook a little, as if suddenly cold. “Vim…” she whispered back.

“Mhm… a hard thing to swallow isn’t it? When confronted with a mirror,” I said gently.

“You knew…? All along?” Merit asked, shocked to realize so.

“I don’t know the prophecy, but I know you expect something. But… you’re not the only one, Merit. Far from the only one. I’ve come to realize far more than just Celine and Light have known of Renn, and her circumstances. Renn hasn’t said anything yet, but I’ve overheard whispers lately since my return. The only reason they had all voted to banish her last time we were here is because of Brandy. Because of a prophecy she had been told. She had been acting on Celine’s orders,” I said.

Merit’s shoulders slumped. “Vim…!”

“I’m not angry, or upset. Just… don’t ever speak of it in front of me. And if you can, Renn, too. I love the woman, more than you can know, and she tries so very hard to play by my rules but… well…” I hesitated a bit, and wondered if I should reveal a little secret about Renn.

“She talks in her sleep, yes,” Merit said with a sigh.

I grinned and nodded. “Isn’t it cute?”

“No. Not to me,” Merit said flatly.

Hm. It was to me. Even when she spoke of things that broke my heart, such as her worries and fears.

Reaching over, I gently patted Merit on the back. I tried not to notice how… small she was as I did. Merit had always been tiny, but sometimes I forgot just how tiny she was. What was it like I wonder to be stuck in such a small body? “All we can do, Merit, is stay near her. To protect and help her when we can. But at the same time… don’t try and shield her from everything. Even if she gets hurt, she needs to live. To experience all life has to offer. The ups and the downs,” I said.

“I’ll not interfere with her in that way, Vim. I know better. I know you’d squish me if even thought of it… I just… worry… and not just because of a prophecy! I promise! I actually hadn’t even known, not until Nasba told me!” Merit said, her voice growing quicker but quieter as she started to whisper.

“Nasba?” I asked with a frown. Really…? Nasba had never been involved with Celine or any of them. After her village had fallen and she had left it she had hooked up with Merit nearly right away, and had spent most of her time far from such things.

Merit nodded. “In a recent letter… I… I actually wish I hadn’t read it, to be honest. But I understand why she said it. Because I had said something foolish in my letter first,” she asid.

“Foolish…?” I asked carefully.

Merit took a deep breath and sighed. “I was going to keep a distance from her. Because I felt… unworthy. I didn’t want to like her just because I was jealous. Just because she got what I never had, or whatever…” Merit mumbled.

Oh boy. Quite a serious conversation we were having, wasn’t it…? Maybe I should have grabbed a bucket… “And her… response to that letter made you change your mind?” I asked.

Merit slowly nodded… and then shook her head. “Yes and no, Vim. She told me of a prophecy. At least, a part of one. Not the whole thing, just enough to make me reconsider. Then I realized how cruel it was, to not just Renn but me. I… I’ve only ever had a few friends in my whole life, Vim… and I know to Renn I’m just one of many. A single little fish in a huge ocean of people she finds interesting and fun, but I decided it was rude to not just her but myself to neglect the possible friendship between us,” Merit said.

“Hm… well I’m glad you didn’t. You and I may not have always seen eye to eye Merit, but I’d prefer your company over all of theirs any day,” I said.

She smirked at that. “I’ve no doubt, Vim. But we’re not talking about what you would prefer, but what is best for Renn,” she said.

“Hmph. If you’re trying to imply you learned of a prophecy that makes you worry for Renn’s safety… then fear it no longer. I’ve plans my own to counteract them,” I said.

Merit turned a bit, rather quickly, to face me. “She’s in danger?” she asked loudly.

My eyes narrowed in understanding at Merit’s outburst. She had not meant that at all, it seemed. Good thing, though that meant the prophecy she’d been told by Nasba… the one that had made her decide to embrace her friendship with Renn and not keep her distance had another purpose.

One more likely to do with Merit herself than Renn or anyone else. Which was odd… Why would Nasba tell her of it then?

“She’s always in danger, Merit. Just as you and everyone else always is as well. I didn’t mean it that way… I just meant if you had learned of something… not good, concerning Renn’s future, you need not truly fear it. I’ll figure out how to keep her safe,” I said, choosing my words carefully.

Merit relaxed a little, but only to a point. “Great. So there are such prophecies concerning her too? Not just the ones Light and the rest are using to justify their schemes?”

“Who gave you yours?” I asked.

“Nasba…?” she answered, in a way that told me she was upset I’d even ask. Since she’d just told me.

“Yes, but what saint? Who told Nasba of the prophecy originally?” I clarified.

She blinked. “Oh. Right. Celine.”

Hm… I wasn’t sure if that was better or worse, to be honest…

“Just… just how many saints have had prophecies of her, Vim?” Merit asked.

“More than I want to admit. But before you read too deeply into it, think on it for a moment. Several of them are those who she considers family. Friends. Her witch friend, Light is seen by Renn to be a friend too now, and so forth. Saints typically have more prophecies concerning those they hold dear to their own hearts,” I said. I didn’t mention Narli or Renn’s human friend Elaine, the one still living.

“Is that common though…? I had saints come and go a few times during my kingdom and it always felt as if their prophecies weren’t that common a thing, sporadic at best,” Merit said.

I sighed at that. “Sometimes they aren’t, no. It is a little troubling just how many seem to be about her, but I mean… there is one way to reason it all,” I said with a shrug.

“Her connection with you,” Merit answered with a stale voice.

I nodded. “Regretfully.”

“Maybe it should be you who considers distancing yourself from her then,” Merit said simply.

A distant roof tile cracked… as I slowly nodded. “I’ve long considered it, Merit,” I told her honestly.

The small fish shifted a bit, though if she did so because she had heard the tile break and crack… or if she was simply unsettled by my response I couldn’t tell.

“Is this why you’re okay with her plan to make a home up north…? With everyone?” Merit asked.

Slowly nodding, I wondered what to even say to that. Even if I hadn’t been okay with it… I’d still allow it. Because I wanted her to be happy. I wanted everyone to be happy, if able. But there was no denying the cold hard fact that I wanted to surround Renn with layers of security. Not just ones I myself provided… but others did too. Like Lilly and her family, or even Randle and his insight.

Merit’s little face contorted into emotion, and then she sniffed and nodded. “Then my decision is the right one.”

“Decision…?” I asked softly. Hopefully she didn’t mean a reconsideration of her earlier statement. Of not getting close to Renn, of keeping a distance from her… Poor Renn’s heart would break if Merit did such a thing now.

“I’ve decided to go with you. Up north. I’ve been here long enough and… with Light and her people here, they no longer really need me. Not that they really ever needed me in the first place. But now? Now I’m certain. You love her, and will do everything you can do to keep her safe… but you’re not cruel enough to do what needs to be done. So I’ll go. Maybe between me and Lilly we can protect her in the ways you won’t allow yourself to,” Merit said as she went back to weeding.

Slightly stunned… I watched Merit wipe her nose on a dirty sleeve as she continued gardening. She looked, and seemed, done with this conversation. With all of it. She had just made her decision, and now nothing anyone or anything could change it. I knew that look on her face, I’d seen it before both when she had decided to found her own kingdom… and when it had fell, and she had decided to abandon it.

Smiling at her, I felt myself relax a little. So this whole conversation had been about that. After coming back from my trip to the Keep, I had assumed Merit would, or at least wanted, to join Renn on her little venture to make a home… especially since she kept accidentally speaking as if she was included in the task when anyone spoke of it. But it was nice to both hear confirmation… and to know the reason for her decision was such a pure one.

She wanted to protect Renn. From the world that seemed so intent to disturb her. Even if Merit had a slightly selfish desire, from a prophecy or whatnot, it didn’t matter to me. It was the same reason I had stayed my hand, and decided Light was not a threat. Because as it was now, here in this moment, they were things that could and would keep Renn safer than the alternative of not having them nearby or at all.

“Can… I come with you, Vim…?” she then whispered softly.

“Merit, any home of Renn’s is a home you are and always will be welcomed in, you know that,” I said gently.

Merit turned to look at me. She held my gaze, but she didn’t smile. She didn’t smirk or blush… instead her eyebrows met even tighter. “I’m not asking Renn, Vim.”

Ah…

I swallowed a sigh that wanted to escape and nodded. “You’re always welcomed in my home too, Merit. All that I ask is occasionally you let me have my wife for a night or two, is all,” I said. It seemed with the growing cast of friends and family that was set to accompany us, such nights might become rather rare for me.

She finally smirked at me, and nodded. “That won’t be too hard. She won’t admit it to you but she actually cherishes your little talks in the night.”

“The fact you seem to know all about them makes me annoyed, maybe even enough to put you in an aquarium. One I’ll build in the dog house,” I said.

She scoffed at me. “Renn wouldn’t let you do that. Which is too bad, I probably would like that.”

Probably would.

As Merit returned to her task before her… I stood up. “I’m glad you found a new purpose… even if like me it’s one chosen wildly thanks to uncertainty,” I said to her.

She huffed at me. “You may be acting out of panic, but I’m not. Renn would abandon you before she would me, after all.”

The fact the little fish was probably right made my eye twitch.

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