Navarin had her guards lock the four in a small room on the ship, and they took sail. Toshie sat in the corner and tried to forget the nightmare still pying in her head. Brot was going on about cures for the headache Toshie insisted she didn’t have. Yrlith was rubbing Sally’s back.

  “I haven’t seen them in a year. And she expects me to waltz in, yammer on about family secrets they never told me about? And we have to hide you. They’ll kill you on sight!”

  “They don’t know you were with me,” said Yrlith.

  “Still! You think I’m gonna say, ‘Hey, long time no see. Remember how I ran off when you tried to marry me to a fat old Goblin prince?’ No offense, Brot.”

  “What?” Brot hadn’t been paying attention. His nose was in some book he had found. Sally continued uninterrupted.

  “Well, here I am with my Dragonkin lover. Who’s a woman, by the way? Millennia of tradition, yeah, yeah. By the way, your daughter likes girls. I’m sure they’ll be real happy.”

  “Sally, calm down,” said Yrlith. “I’ll disguise myself. We don’t have to tell them about us. Plus, I don’t care what they think. We’ll do this, figure a way out of these bracers, and go back to living together somewhere. Remember, you’ll always have me.”

  “And my axe,” said Toshie.

  “What axe?” asked Sally.

  “Never mind. But you have us as well, right, Brot?” Toshie gave Brot a nudge.

  “What? Yes, as it says here, the Orbs of Vara Elma were separated over four hundred years ago! I had never heard of these Orbs before, but they are mentioned in this book I borrowed from Master Navarin!”

  “Borrowed?” Toshie asked, peering at the book. Despite speaking English and seeing written English everywhere, this book was filled with letters she had never seen before.

  “You can read that, Brot?” Toshie was now curious.

  “Oh yes, learning Ancient Elmanese was part of my Priest training,” Brot said with pride.

  “Are you serious, Brot? Does it say anything about my family?” Sally was now looking at the book as well.

  “Not per se, however, it does… Let me see, yes, right here! The Crimson Orb was handed to the Mountain Dwarves of Unterstone for protection! There are the other orbs, of course. I will not bore you with the details, but the Dark Elves specifically did not receive one! They were thought to be untrustworthy.”

  “Thank you, Plot, er, Brot,” said Toshie.

  “I don’t buy it,” said Sally. “This could be some, I dunno, Dark Elf propaganda? They were always unhappy after the, oh, what was it called.”

  “The Orb War?” offered Toshie.

  “Yes, yes! That was it! See, I did pay attention to my history tutor!” Sally stuck out her tongue at Yrlith.

  “If you will allow me to be so bold,” Brot interrupted, “I believe you are referring to the Great Vara Elma War, although some schors do refer to it as the War for the Orbs.”

  Yrlith ughed. “Good job, Tunasad the Schor.”

  “Oh, you hush, I was close enough.”

  The door suddenly smmed open, and Navarin walked in.

  “We’ve nded.” Navarin’s eyes went wide. “Give me that.” She grabbed the book from Brot’s hands, put it into the desk drawer, and locked it.

  “Hey, he was giving us a history lesson,” Sally protested.

  “We’ve nded. This ship is heading back. You will come with me.”

  “So you’re going to be watching us all by yourself?” Toshie asked.

  “Do you think me incapable?” Navarin stared at Toshie, her bright blue eyes piercing into her soul.

  “Not what I said! I figured this would be a whole thing, you know? Considering how important we are.” Toshie had a feeling this was as friendly as Navarin got.

  “Perhaps one of you would like to test me?” Navarain pounded her spear on the ground.

  “Nope, just ready for something to eat. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”

  Saying nothing, Navarin turned around and left.

  “What if we stay in here?” Sally asked.

  “I’ll eat Brot, Toshie, and you in that order,” said Yrlith.

  “Time to get going!” Brot dashed out the door. Yrlith ughed, and the three of them followed.

  Before they left the ship, they were each handed a sack.

  “I am returning the belongings that were found on you when you were apprehended,” Navarin said. “Should any combat occur, you are to assist me. Should you not, well, I need not remind you of the consequences.” She turned and descended from the ship.

  “I need not bh, bh, bh,” Sally said as she bobbed her head back and forth.

  “Sal, come on. Don’t get yourself killed,” Yrlith said as she reattached her dagger to her belt. “Or, don’t get me killed, okay? She needs you.”

  “Sorry, I just, ugh. She’s like every annoying bit of my parents rolled up into one.”

  Yrlith tousled Sally’s hair. “For me, okay?”

  “Yes, dear.” Sally grinned.

  “Make haste!” Navarin yelled from the dock. The four descended.

  The ship left about as soon as it had nded. Toshie watched it head toward the horizon until she heard Navarin yell again. She sighed and turned around. Standing in front of her was Brot, who poked her in the stomach.

  “Not the best pce to poke a dy, Brot,” Toshie joked.

  Brot ignored her and instead pointed to his satchel and smiled. The book Navarin took from him was poking out of it. He smiled and pushed it back into his bag.

  “How?” Toshie asked, surprised.

  “Well, my father taught me some things,” Brot said. “Let us hurry before we anger Master Navarin anymore.” Brot dashed to catch up with the others.

  'Feels like everyone’s full of surprises except for me," Toshie thought as she ran to catch up with the group.