"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." Naiela said as she sat up and wiped her eyes. "This isn't any of your business, obviously."

  "Sometimes we just need to let stuff out." Triss replied. "I doubt there was anyone at the council you could talk to about this."

  Naiela laughed bitterly. "No, there certainly isn't." Her shoulders slumped as she hung her head. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Before Triss could respond, Naiela straightened and turned to her. "And no, I'm not going to turn into a dark wizard, so get that out of your head now."

  Triss held her hands up in a placating gesture. "Wasn't even thinking about it." She said. It was mostly true. Technically, abandoning the council would likely get her labeled as a dark wizard, though Triss didn't see it that way.

  Naiela stared at her suspiciously through red, puffy eyes. "Sure you weren't."

  Triss sighed. "I don't think you should be a dark wizard, but I don't really consider myself a dark wizard. Honestly? If you had... If you had done what the council asked, I would think of you as a dark wizard."

  Naiela shook her head. "You don't understand." She said, looking away.

  "I do. I just disagree. But that doesn't matter." Triss said softly. "We're not going to agree, Naiela. And I'm not going to try and convince you that I'm right or that the council is wrong, even if that's what I believe." She placed a hand on Naiela's shoulder. "I'm just here to listen."

  The other wizard said nothing for a long, quiet moment. "Why?" She asked at last. "Why do you want to help me? You're a dark wizard. I could turn you in to the council at any time."

  "Do you really think that would stop me from caring about you?"

  Naiela snapped her head up to look at Triss. "Of course! You'd be an idiot not to! You'd hate me!"

  "I might be mad at you for a while. But no, I wouldn't hate you."

  "Then you're an idiot." Naiela said as she stood. "I...I think you should leave now." She turned away, face hidden beneath her hood's deep cowl.

  Triss paused, trying to think of something to say, some way of salvaging the conversation. In the end, it was best to leave Naiela alone rather than pushing her and undoing any progress they had made, she decided. "Ok, I'll go." She stood, then paused with her hand on the door. "If you want to talk later, I'll be available." Naiela didn't answer, and Triss left the room, closing the door quietly behind herself.

  "How did it go?" Triss nearly jumped out of her skin at the words. She whirled on Reginald, who stood a few feet down the hallway with a smirk on his face.

  "That wasn't nice."

  "I'm not nice." He nodded his head towards the end of the hallway and started walking that direction. Triss followed, waiting until they were away from the door to speak. "She's a mess. The council told her to kill everyone here, and she couldn't do it. She thinks she's a failure." She filled Reginald in on the rest of what had happened.

  Reginald shook his head sadly. "The council must have been desperate to send someone untested out on a mission like that."

  Triss frowned. "Why would they send her then? Wouldn't they know she might not do it? It's..."

  "Not easy taking a life?" Reginald finished for her. "I have my theories as to why they sent her."

  "Which are?"

  "Which are my theories." He patted her on the arm. "Not something for you to worry about now."

  Triss pulled her arm away and glared at Reginald. "That's not fair."

  He sighed. "If it turns into something more than a theory, you'll be the first to know. Right now, I think it's best I keep it to myself."

  Triss sighed. "Fine. Anyways, what are we going to do about Naiela?"

  "There's not much we can do. Keep talking to her, but don't be pushy. Maybe eventually she'll come around."

  "Is that what we're trying to do? Convert her to our side?" Triss asked.

  "If it gets her away from the council, yes." His eyes flashed darkly. "Anything we can do to get people out of their clutches is worth it, in my opinion."

  Master Horton came to fetch them for dinner a few moments later, and Triss and Reginald followed him to the expansive dining hall. Three long rows of tables with wooden benches filled the room, though only a dozen brown cloaked monks sat scattered around the tables. Two other monks brought out a large black pot and began serving everyone a rich, brown stew - starting with Triss and Reginald. Master Horton joined them just as the two serving monks left. "Dig in!" He said with a wide smile. "No need to wait on formality around here." He took a huge bite of his own stew as if to illustrate his point. His eyes went wide and he put a hand over his mouth instantly.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Bit hot?" Reginald asked with a grin.

  Master Horton nodded. "Quite hot, yes. Maybe we should give it a few seconds. He said when he finally managed to swallow.

  "I don't see Naiela here. Is she coming?" Triss asked as she stirred her stew.

  Master Horton shook his head. "She said she didn't feel like joining us tonight. I had some food sent to her room though."

  Triss was disappointed, but not surprised. She could understand that Naiela wouldn't want people to see her with red, puffy eyes. She turned the topic to other things, talking to master Horton about the monastery, and the research they did there. Master Horton was delighted to share, and dominated the conversation without seeming to realize it. After dinner they bade the monk a good night and headed for their own rooms, since Reginald wanted to get back on the road early the next morning. Triss had a hard time falling asleep, her mind replaying the conversation with Naiela, and filling her mind with worries. Had she said the wrong things? Would Naiela keep traveling with them or would she go on her own? Questions filled her mind, and none had answers.

  Oh by the ancient gods will you go to sleep! I cannot abide this endless nattering! Grounth suddenly cut into her thoughts. She's a council wizard. Who cares what she does or what she thinks?

  You're an ass, you know that? Triss shot back.

  At least I'm not a whiny girl. Grounth replied. 'oh no, the council wizard doesn't like me. I must cry myself to sleep' He said in a mocking tone.

  Screw you. Triss thought angrily. Actually, you know what? She thought, as a devious plan entered her mind. It's a small world after all. She sang in her head.

  What are you doing?

  It's a small world after all. She continued in singing thought, managing to make the words slightly off key.

  Stop it!

  Triss made it through four rounds of the song before Grounth went silent. She didn't stop, continuing to sing in her head until finally she fell asleep.

  "Triissss." A soft sibilant voice drifted into her slowly waking consciousness. "Triissss."

  She cracked one eye open. A reptilian eye completely filled her narrow vision. She came awake instantly, screaming and jumping up out of the bed and tangling her feet in the blankets. Reginald roared with laughter, hardly able to stand or breathe. "Your face!" He gasped. "You should have seen your face!"

  “I’ll give you a funny looking face!” Triss yelled as she tried to leap off the bed at the offending lizard, but the blankets caught around her toes threw off her aim and she crashed against the wall. Reginald, wisely fled, cackling all the way down the hallway.

  Triss got dressed and made her way down to the dining hall. Most of the monks were there, eating a breakfast of what looked like eggs and mashed potatoes. Reginald was sitting and eating with Master Horton, and a plate of steaming food sat at the empty seat behind Reginald. Triss strode up, picked up the unclaimed plate, and turned it over on Reginald’s head. “What the-“ He exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and turned to Triss with a shocked expression on his face. Triss smirked, then turned to master Horton, who wore a similarly shocked expression.

  “Good morning Master Horton.” She said to the old monk in the sweetest tone she could manage. “I hate to be a bother, but would it be possible to get a new plate of breakfast? This one has a bit of draconic in it.”

  “Um…oh, uh, yes, yes of course!” He stammered, clambering to his feet. “I’ll fetch one right away.”

  Reginald glared at triss as he tried to wipe the food off his head. A stray bit of egg yolk ran down the center of his forehead, following a slight depression in his snout. “That wasn’t funny.”

  Triss laughed. “I disagree. You should see your face!”

  After breakfast they said their goodbyes to master Horton. Triss asked about Naiela, and was told the council wizard had eaten alone again, but was waiting for them in the stables. She was already mounted when Triss and Reginald made it outside, sitting on Nightfang and staring forward, not looking at them at all. Once Triss was mounted, they headed out. Naiela said nothing, continuing to stare straight ahead for the rest of the day. Triss tried to to talk to her, but got nothing in response.

  They camped on the side of the road that night. Naiela ate mechanically, then went to bed as soon as she was done, still not speaking. “This is going to be a long trip.” Triss sighed when the council wizard left.

  “Yeah, but at least it’ll be a quiet one.” Reginald replied.

  The next day was cold, and Triss shivered as they rode. “How much further?” She asked Reginald.

  “A little over a week.”

  “Any inns between here and there?”

  “None we’re stopping at. We’ve been delayed enough. From here on we ride all day, sleep, and then go again.”

  Triss groaned. “Montages should be a real thing. I want a travelling montage.”

  “What’s a montage?”

  "Never mind. It would take too long to explain. It's just a thing from my home that makes travel faster."

  "Oh, like those cards you told me about?"

  "Cars. Sure, why not. A montage is a type of car."

  Reginald smiled. "I'm starting to figure out this stuff. Maybe someday we can build a montage for you."

  Triss laughed in spite of the annoyance she felt from so much travel. "Deal. When we get home, you can help me build a montage."

  The rest of the trip was a blur of cold rides, bad sleep, and worse food. Reginald pushed them to ride until the sun was set, and they ate cold rations rather than waste time building a fire. He had them up before dawn each day so they could be on the road as soon as the sun's light began to pierce the gloom of night. Triss spent her days in the saddle, contemplating horrible things she could do to the draconic. Grounth chimed in with some extremely violent suggestions, and she had to constantly mute the old dark wizard.

  The road began to widen as they traveled, and soon they passed other travelers. It swiftly went from one or two a day to a near constant stream of carts, horses, and the occasional coach. Reginald drew a few stares and sidelong looks, but the majority of travelers ignored them. Near the end of the seventh day of travel the city of Holintis finally came into view.

  Triss gasped at the sight. Holintis was beautiful, with tall white stone walls and thin towers that rose from different parts of the city. Just beyond the city lay a sparkling blue sea, covered in white capped waves whipped up by the frigid wind. "It's like a fairy tale castle." She said, awestruck.

  Reginald chuckled. "You must have different fairy tales where you're from." He shook his head, then fixed her with a serious expression. "Holintis is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It's also rotten to the core. You need to follow my instructions here. Things can go bad faster than you could believe."