Taria stared at the glinting coins in her palm. She'd never held this much money at once. Already, she was mentally budgeting meals and a night's rest somewhere safe.
".....Are you even listening?"
Taria snapped out of her thoughts. "What?"
"I said," Kaedros narrowed his eyes, "you stink. Have you ever heard of a bath? And your clothes… you need new ones. Wash your hair. Maybe I'll take care of it myself." He looked her over. "You need food too."
She flushed crimson. "You'll… dress me?"
Was that why he chose her? Because he wanted…? She swallowed, her face burning. Kaedros was too handsome, too graceful—what would someone like him want with someone like her?
Kaedros frowned. Why was she acting strange? Didn't she want to bathe? Or change clothes? Maybe she was afraid of it.
If so, he'd just do it himself.
"Don't you want me to?" he asked, puzzled.
Taria looked up, flustered. "Of course not, I mean, yes...I mean no..wait.."
She stopped herself and looked away. "Do what you want!"
Kaedros studied her. Humans were weird.
"I should go," she said quickly. "I need to find a place to stay for the night."
"A place to stay?" he asked.
"Yes. My rent's overdue. I've been sleeping… wherever I could. But with these coins, I can get a bed tonight."
Kaedros considered that. "At least let me handle your bath and food for today."
Her eyes lit up. "Thank you!"
"Follow me."
Taria followed Kael through the streets, her nerves mounting. Her tattered clothes clung to her uncomfortably as they entered the wealthier district, clean stone roads, fine buildings, and people who turned their noses at her presence.
"Where are we going?" she whispered, keeping her head down to avoid the judging gazes.
"Here," Kaedros said, stopping in front of a large building with a swinging wooden sign, an inn.
So he was bringing her to an inn, Taria thought, surprised.
She followed Kael inside. The warm scent of roasted meat and fresh bread hit her instantly, and her stomach let out a growl loud enough to make her wince.
Still, she ignored it and kept walking.
Kaedros led her to a table in the corner where Kaelith's team sat eating and drinking.
"I thought you'd be gone by now," Kaedros said as he approached.
Kaelith grunted. "We should've been, but selling those spellbooks took longer than expected. We leave tomorrow."
A thrill of excitement flashed through Kaedros. Finally, they were leaving.
Esmera looked up from her food, her eyes landing sharply on Taria. "I heard you went on a bounty today."
Taria flinched under the sudden attention. Everyone at the table was now staring at her, and she wished desperately for cleaner clothes… or to disappear altogether.
"Yes!" Kaedros said with a grin. "Everyone, meet Taria. Taria, this is everyone. She's my new partner."
Taria shrank back, wishing he hadn't said that. He was far too casual about putting her on display.
"Why don't you sit, Taria?" Virell offered, motioning to an empty chair.
"Thank you," she murmured quickly, pulling out the chair and sitting down. The embarrassment momentarily faded as she eyed the food in front of her.
Drakar snorted. "Why isn't your little warrior eating?"
"Oh, you should eat, Taria," Kaedros said,frowning. "Look at you—all bones and no meat. I'll have to fatten you up."
And then maybe eat you later.
Taria considered being offended. Compared to livestock? Really? Maybe she'd be mad about that later. For now, she pulled a plate closer and began devouring it like her life depended on it, which, in a way, it did.
The table went quiet, watching her with mixed expressions as she ate.
Kaelith finally broke the silence. "You didn't think to inform us before taking a bounty? You just got your class today."
He shot a sharp look at Drakar. "You were supposed to escort him back."
Kaedros shrugged. "You already said I'm on my own. I didn't think I had to report to anyone. Do I now?"
His voice was cold.
Kaelith opened his mouth to argue, then shut it again. True, he had said that. Besides, the flash of heat he felt from Kael...did he imagine it?
"At the very least," Kaelith said firmly, "you could've waited. Taken a few weeks to properly get used to things before hunting anything. That was a risk."
"They weren't monsters. They were Scabber." Kaedros said, unbothered.
"Scabbers are still dangerous," Drakar cut in. "They might be level low rank but they're swarm monsters. One wrong move and you'd be overwhelmed, especially if you wandered into a nest. Even our peak rank two teama avoid their breeding grounds."
Taria froze, spoon mid-air. Peak rank 2?
She blinked. She was sitting at a table with that kind of powerful people? And Kaedros, just a low rank one mage, knew these people?
She decided to shelve the confusion for now and kept eating.
"There weren't that many Scabber," Kaedros said casually. "And Taria kept me safe."
Taria paused, startled. She glanced at him. She saw that smile on his face again, small, confident and so casual as if he was simply looking down on everything.
All eyes turned to her. She didn't look like someone who could keep anyone safe. She looked like someone who needed saving.
No one said anything about it. Instead, Esmera spoke up. "We set aside your share of the spellbook money. It's in the bounty hunter's Association vault under your name. You can withdraw a monthly allowance from it."
"And we've booked a private training chamber for you as well," Kaelith added.
Kaedros raised an eyebrow. He didn't really care about the money since he had treasure of his own in his spatial ring. He shrugged casually. "...Thanks?"
After that, the mood lightened. Talk shifted to other bounties, and Kaedros launched into a dramatic tale of how he and Taria had outwitted the Scabber, picking them off one by one.
Taria listened, baffled at how smoothly he lied. He made her sound like some silent assassin, a warrior goddess at rank two who slayed monsters with ease.
Naturally, attention turned to her next.
So she began her story, nervously, about her background until Drakar interrupted with a snort.
"The sad, typical tale. Another slum rat thinking a warrior class and the bounty hunter's Association will save them. They think being Ascendants is a gateway to some good life. Most end up as monster chow on their first bounty."
The table fell into a thick, awkward silence.
Virell smacked Drakar on the shoulder. "Ignore him. Tell me, Taria, what do you like?"
As they chatted, Kaedros stood and gestured for Taria to follow. "Come. We'll get you clean clothes."
He made sure fresh outfits would be delivered to his room, then led Taria upstairs.
☆☆▪︎☆☆
Later...
"Do you think he knows what he's doing?" Kaelith asked as the two disappeared up the stairs.
"No clue," Virell said honestly.
"He acts strange sometimes," Esmera said. "You think they're going up there to...?" Her voice trailed off as her face reddened.
Virell snorted with laughter.
Drakar grunted. "I told you. That boy's mind's been twisted by that damn Dragon."
Kaelith's face hardened. "We'll kill that Dragon."