Tamrie had warned Perry that her mum had connections to criminal elements.

So why the abyss were they making their way to her mum’s home?

Maybe with everything that’d happened, between his poking around in the library, the race, Bevel’s misadventures and his negotiations with the High Shaper, this key fact had slipped her love’s mind. That was the only reason she could think of.

She tried to distract herself by thinking about that race, except doing so reminded her of a troubling realization she’d had just before they’d run into her mum.

All those men and women, each of them at the physical peak of what a human or elf could achieve, had been very much on full display. A sight that in the past she would’ve soaked in for all its worth.

Yet instead, despite what her mum’d attempted, there’d only been one person she’d seen in that crowd.

Flick of black hair. Perry. Subtle stretch of the muscle. Perry. Display of unnatural agility. Perry.

A shift of the breeze. Somehow, still Perry.

Weren’t natural, how bad she had it for the man. She’d never thought of herself as the jealous sort, and now look at her… It’d be so much easier if he’d spend less time around beautiful women who were leagues better than her own self.

Then again, his reassuring was nice, so it weren’t all bad.

At least she liked Arizar, even if Perry was taken with her ‘enchantments’. Weren’t many women she got along with so easy.

Was mighty glad she’d be living close by soon.

As they waited for their turn to take the waterlift to the Lower Holds, Tamrie found herself resting her head on Perry’s arm, glancing over to where Bevel was still hanging off his other side. Seemed the day’d taken the wind right outta the girl’s sails.

Within a minute, they were crammed into the waterlift together, the envelope pulling them tighter than even Tamrie was comfortable with, what with Bevel there.

And then they were out.

A few steps ahead, her mum led the way alongside ser Calbern. Tamrie imagined her mum trying to outwit the man and found herself snorting.

When Perry glanced at her, raising an eyebrow, she waved it off. “Nothing. Just thinking ‘bout Calbern going up ‘gainst my mum.”

“Somehow, I can’t see Calbern drawing his sword on your mum,” Perry said, missing her meaning by half a Hold.

She just nodded. Wasn’t worth explaining while in earshot of either of them.

Instead, Tamrie let her gaze drift upwards, admiring how the light from the celebration above filtered down through the ocean. Like little beams of sunlight, captured in glass.

They’d decorated the stone fingers that sat every fifty feet or so this year with some kind of wreath, made of several types of dye-kelp. Was prettier than she was used to, though not in a bad way.

The dappled light from above and the kelp wreathes were all so romantic, Tamrie nearly wished those fingers weren’t shedding light of their own.

“It’s nice having water overhead,” Tamrie said. “Don’t get to appreciate it proper, when walking Tender’s paths.”

“We could always go early, you know? Or I could build you a place out near Verdant Point. Actually, that might be a good idea anyway. I’m sure the residents would love it,” Perry said, gazing up at the transparent barrier that kept the ocean out.

Likely working out exactly how it was done, too. Tamrie’d lived in the Lower Holds most her life and she only knew that there was a bit of enchanting and a whole lotta math involved. “Worth doing, I’d say.”

“Oh hey, is that a leviathan?” Perry asked, lifting his chin to point to the side.

After a second to process the unexpected question, Tamrie just about jumped in joy when she turned and saw it in the distance. It was barely close enough to share its lights with the city, but it was there!

Despite living in the Lower Holds her whole life, she’d only gotten to see what happened next a handful of times. And each had been among her most treasured memories.

When the leviathans deigned to visit Spellford, the city itself would invite them in.

Above their group, the fingers that had been illuminating their path lit up with a second set of lights. Unable to help herself, Tamrie let out a little squeal of delight. “It’s happening!”

And it did. The leviathan accepted. They so rarely swam in close. And never in the history of the city had they done so on a race day!

“Hey, wake up. Pretty sure you don’t wanna miss this,” Perry said, shaking.

She was so focused on the race, it took Tamrie a moment to realize the words were meant for Bevel. The teenager grumbled something about smoke and murmuring but then she cut herself off with a small gasp.

An appropriate reaction, Tamrie figured, the leviathan starting its long route between the holds. This wasn’t the same type of leviathan they’d seen beneath the ocean where Perry’d made her an ensouled. Those were big, sleek, almost shark-like leviathans.

This one was flatter, like one of the manta rays that sat in the silt that collected in the filters. Except it was much bigger. Wouldn’t be much of a leviathan if it weren’t.

Like all other true leviathans, it had the glowing lights running across its skin. Its lights didn’t tell a story as it swam about the Lower Holds, though. Least not one Tamrie could make out.

Yet that didn’t stop it from putting on a show.

Their group paused there, on the street leading to her mum’s place, watching the leviathan as it spun and danced and played. They were far from the only people to stop to watch.

Almost half an hour went by, with little said by any. Even the Forgeborn, who oft seemed to make noise simply by existing, remained mostly quiet, with only the barest huff of steam or soft whir escaping them.

When the leviathan swung back past the Hold they’d been walking along, Tamrie couldn’t help but lift her hand up and use the trick Perry’d taught her, summoning her mana to her fingers in the soft blue-green and gold of her affinities.

Ocean and Nature.

Perry’d offered to help her get other affinities up. Even before he’d described the grueling process, Tamrie’d been certain she already had the right affinities. It’d been no choice at all to stick with what she had.

As the leviathan drifted past overhead, Perry and Bevel each raised their hands beside her. There seemed to be a blinking response from the leviathan, and she couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, it’d seen them and acknowledged their display.

It turned out that had been the leviathan’s final pass. Soon as it cleared the end of the Hold, it drifted away, slowly swimming into the north.

“Well, that’s a sight even I ain’t seen afore,” her mum said after a few seconds. Tamrie felt the moment her mum’s gaze fell on her still glowing hand.

It was reflex that had her hand snapping down, the glow vanishing.

When her mum turned away, resuming the walk, Tamrie let out a breath. She’d count herself well and truly lucky if her mum didn’t press her about her new ‘talent’ that night.

“Hey,” Perry whispered, flashing his mana, though only a small wisp partially cupped in his hand so only she could see. “Wanna practice, little leviathan?”

Tamrie snorted at that. Much as she loved him, his attempts at nicknames were… well, she actually kinda liked that one. “Aye, let’s.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The next few minutes were spent flashing their mana back and forth at each other in patterns of increasing complexity. A much better game than the one she’d been forced to play with her mum.

Having to put on that face, pretend she was still the little girl who’d helped her mum pick out marks… Just playing it had left her feeling like she’d dipped herself in that black sludge Inertia’d been experimenting with. But Perry’d asked her to distract her mum, and that was the only thing she’d been able to think of.

And now they were marching towards her mum’s for dinner. At least Perry’d kept it to that when he’d compromised.

She had tried to signal that she absolutely did not want to sit down for dinner with her mum. After what they’d just witnessed, she was glad she’d failed.

A leviathan run!

While copying his latest pattern as best she could, Tamrie thought about whether they might both learn the leviathan language while they were in Spellford. Maybe she’d teach him the Cant too.

If her mum could teach it to Tamrie when she was only six, her man wouldn’t have any problem learnin’ it.

Tamrie blinked when they got to her mum’s yard. It was built into the outer side of the hold, the entrance stairs leading down over the edge, with a park on top. That was premium property in the Lower Holds.

Seemed her mum’d upgraded since Tamrie’d ran off.

Next to her, Perry still had Bevel held in one arm. She wasn’t quite sure how he was supporting her, since he certainly wasn’t able to hold Tamrie up that long so easily.

She’d tested that more’n once.

When his feet almost missed a step, floating a mite too high, Tamrie suspected she had an answer. He was using his new flight muscle!

The tangent of what exactly they might be able to use that new muscle for sent her mind down wasn’t fit for proper company, so Tamrie did her best to rein it in, not conscious of her tightening grip on his arm, nor how she softly whimpered his name.

Luckily, taking the stairs down to her mum’s entrance distracted her.

They paused on a platform with a view of four other Lower Holds laid out like giant steps beneath them. Her mum turned back with a crooked smile, saying, “Just need to tidy things up a bit.”

The platform was a mite crowded, since Perry’d had the good sense to insist the Forgeborn tag along. It’d keep her mum from making a mess, more’n like.

As her gaze moved amongst her traveling companions, Tamrie realized that none of them would make a decent mark by her mum’s rules. Every one of them was a proper person of interest, if not a legitimate danger.

Connection of eight, even without their actual connections, by her mum’s system.

Even Tamrie was on the path of the Shapers. And that was quite the thing, to be certain. A quick shot, as her mum’d say. Likely to get away or hurt you before you knew it.

The important part of the game’d never been the obvious.

A low creaking noise drew her out of her thoughts as her mum pushed open the front door. The bear-Forgeborn had to tilt to the side to get through, but he did it without so much as scraping the frame.

The room her mum led them into held several signs of her mum’s craft. The solid wood table, formed from a single piece of dark wood was a sign of extreme luxury for a mortal. Not that Tamrie expected any of the others to notice.

Tamrie hadn’t lied to Perry when she’d told him she didn’t know what her mum did. Cause she didn’t, not exactly.

She knew how her mum got ready for a job. Lots of information gathering and planning. Routes in and out.

And she knew her mum only went out on a job at night or during busy events like the run.

And she knew that any target she’d ever helped her mum pick out went on to suffer a disastrous loss. And somehow, there’d always be something new to decorate their home after.

That was all Tamrie knew.

More than she’d ever cared to.

As they settled down at the table, Tamrie found herself wishing she could keep her arm entwined ‘round Perry’s. Yet her mum had ringed the table with chairs sporting armrests. At least they were good for Bevel, since the girl was able to curl up without spilling out, despite the recent stretching of her limbs.

Across from them, the other side of the table was entirely clear of chairs, leaving space for the Forgeborn. Another sign of her mum’s wealth, though a subtle one. Tamrie was willing to bet a hundred Waves those chairs had been in the room a few minutes earlier and her mum had used her storage artifact to move them.

That the table had room for all seven of them, plus the Forgeborn was unusual beyond the pure opulence. Even when Tamrie’d lived with her mum, they hadn’t needed space for more than four on the busiest of days.

The veritable feast that was provided by an stuffed bird enchanted to walk and float plates was new too. Both the bird and the food.

“You know, I think your mum might be trying to impress us,” Perry said, barely loud enough for Tamrie to hear.

Tamrie nodded, working her jaw, trying to understand her mum’s game. But she’d never been good at understanding her mum.

As the food was set out before them, Tamrie found herself looking around the room again, inspecting everything that was on display. She hadn’t noted several of the items at first because they’d always been part of the decor in their old home.

Except now that she was looking, they stood out in such a fancy place. More than the bird servant or the expensive table.

While Calbern started asking her mum questions, Tamrie found her attention moving to the strange decorations.

The silver plate with green spackling all along the side looked like it belonged in the hands of one of the refugees. That had shown up shortly after the first time she played her mum’s game.

Just across from her sat a bronze chalice with what looked like blue fingerprints pressed into the rim. That had sat in Peter’s home. He’d been the boy who’d told Tamrie her father’d never come home cause he was embarrassed to have a daughter like her.

She remembered coming home in tears, and how her mum’d teased what had happened out between wracking sobs. She also remembered how upset she’d been when her mum had just patted her head and told her she’d sort things.

At the time, she hadn’t wanted her mum to sort things, she’d wanted her to comfort her. To explain where her father was. By the time Tamrie ran away to the libraries, she’d given up on getting an answer to that question. Her mum’d given her enough hints for Tamrie to know the answer wasn’t a happy one.

It shocked Tamrie to realize how many of the objects in the room carried some sorta connection to her. The wooden spoon from the teacher who’d used it to smack her students hands. Vase of fake flowers, first boyfriend.

More and more occurred to her, and soon she’d gotten lost in cataloging when each had shown up. And who had likely lost them.

All of the one’s her mum had on display were tied to people who’d upset Tamrie at some point or another. Part of her wondered why her mum hadn’t ever stolen anything from herself. Her mum upset her more than everyone else combined.

Then again, Tamrie’d done that her own self, hadn’t she, when she’d run away?

Tamrie realized she’d gotten so swept up in her mom’s collection, she’d missed much of the conversation.

“-the remarkable fellow. Able to evade Thozgar’s sweeps, such as he is,” her mum said, holding up a polished silver chalice towards Calbern. “It takes a keen criminal mind and not a little talent to drift under the High Shaper’s nets.”

Tamrie couldn’t stop herself from snorting at her mother’s backhanded self-aggrandizement. Nor did she hold herself from taking a shot in response. “More’n like, he’s after a certain class of criminal. Whale like him wouldn’t have appetite for the small fish.”

“It’s true. A small fish has a much easier time slipping through the net,” her mum said, not a hair ruffled by Tamrie’s attempted insult. “Yet this Sebastian, he’s no little fish. In fact, he cast a net of his own, before the High Shaper closed in, way I heard it. Snatched the worst of the worst off the street to join his crew. People I’d have sworn would never work together, no matter what they were paid. Whispers of dark magic.”

“Would you be able to provide me with specific locations I may investigate, Lady Tamarah?” Calbern asked, doing that thing where he moved a bit, yet somehow conveyed a full gesture.

“Of course, ser Calbern,” her mum said, clapping her hands. The enchanted bird waddled in once more, floating a map of the Lower Holds onto the table.

Her mum and Calbern spent the next several minutes going over the details. Tamrie tried to listen but found her attention drifting back to the trophies around the room. She was more than certain that’s what they were.

Trophies of her mum’s work.

To Tamrie’s surprise, the rest of dinner went smoothly. Bevel woke up near the end, only to gorge herself on several of the fruit deserts her mum had brought out. The teen had then passed out a short time later.

The Forgeborn and the translators had seemingly been in a world of their own for the whole meal, and even Perry had been unusually quiet.

Had her mum and Calbern really been the only ones talking?

It surprised her to realize that the answer was yes. She’d grown used to their crowded dinners in the mountain, where there was almost always at least two conversations going at once, if not more.

Still, it was for the best. If no one said anything, they couldn’t slip up and give away anything important to her mum.

“It really was nice to see you, Ramah,” her mum said, holding her arms out for a hug. “I missed you.”

Tamrie relented, allowing her mum to hold her, and even going so far as to pat her mum on the back. She did have to correct her mum though. “It’s Tamrie.”

“Of course, Tamrie, dear” her mum said, patting her cheek. “Whatever you say.”

To her surprise, just like that, they were walking away, leaving her mum behind. Tamrie was pretty sure she would’ve fallen over just from the shock of it all, if it wasn’t for Perry’s arm, there to support her.

He really was a rock for her, even when he wasn’t trying.

He’d seemed distant during dinner. Got like that sometimes, when he was lost in thought. Making plans, designing the future, such as it were.

When he was ready, she’d be there to help, best she could. And maybe she’d distract him for a while, take his mind off things.

They did have a room together, afterall. Shame not to make use of it.

When they emerged from the waterlift at the highest of the Upper Holds, they came to a stop.

They’d come up just in time for the fireworks. After the show with the leviathan, the amazing show was a mite less special than Tamrie was used to, despite having the best view she’d ever had.

Still, the night was warm and the company was good, so they paused and soaked it in.

After a few minutes and a couple quiet good nights to the Forgeborn and their translators, they retreated into their suite.

She marveled at the richness of the colors in the rugs and carpets that lay in the main room of the suite while Perry took Bevel into one of the smaller bedrooms. Her mum might’ve played at being rich, but this was the real deal. What it actually meant to have wealth.

And her man didn’t notice them any more than he did the stones beneath his feet. Maybe less, even, since at least those stones had purpose.

Would her mum have tried so hard to dazzle them if she knew the sort of luxuries Perry ignored every day, just so he could make things a little better for his people?

Thoughts of her mum scattered into wisps as Perry came out of Bevel’s room. A shiver went down her spine as his eyes locked on hers. Wasn’t often she had his full attention but it was maddening when she did.

In the best way.

He came over, taking both of her hands in his. She leaned forward, tongue flicking out to wet her lips in anticipation.

Then the real light show started.