"To be honest, I'm not sure how much of it is possible," Fern admitted, after a moment. "I don't know how a lot of things work in the aristocracy since, like you pointed out before, I've never needed to - not being on the inside of it and all. But it sounds nice, doesn't it? And it's better than thinking of ways to make her pay, if you ask me."

  "It... might be possible," Angelisse began, a little hesitantly. She flushed again as three sets of eyes turned to regard her. "I'm just thinking out loud! But... property transfer is a normal thing, all it would need is my signature on a properly worded letter. Relinquishing my standing as a noble... I could probably do with another letter, but it would have to go to the Emperor in person, I think, to make sure it's not disputed as a forgery. And I... don't like my chances in the imperial capital at this point."

  "And I can't even go there," Ravenna added, with a little sigh.

  "But still..." Angelisse looked at the floor, then back up. "... I... don't hate it. The idea." She looked to the side again. "Just being... unimportant, for once. Not having to care so much any more."

  Fern grinned. "Well, now I really want to make it work out." She closed her eyes, a little wrinkle forming in her forehead. "The logistics of it, though... we still need to get our shopping finished and brought back, and there's all the people passed out on the floors above us, too."

  "I could take care of that," Bernie offered. "Assuming the dy's people go with her, why not just take a boat back to the east? I can escort her and make sure no unsavory types keep her from getting where she's going. Though, uh, can't say I've ever been to the capital before, so I'm gonna need some help with customs 'n all that."

  A brief moment of silence passed as everyone pondered the idea.

  "That sounds good," Ravenna began. "Except for one thing."

  Bernie arched an eyebrow. "Whazzat?"

  "I need to... undo what I've done to you, first." The dark mage cast her gaze down. "Otherwise my partner will hate me for it."

  That's one less conversation I need to have, I guess, Fern mused. At least for now.

  "Would you still do that even if I didn't order you to? If you didn't have any-"

  "Incentive?" Bernie chuckled softly. "Well, I can already think of some suitable payment. But before we talk about anything else-" He looked around meaningfully. "Why don't we get ourselves some fresh air and sunshine?"

  The trip back up to the surface passed rather uneventfully, apart from Angelisse waking up one of the guards - with Ember's assistance - and instructing him to bring everyone to the port once they came to their senses. "We're going back to the estate," she said, simply and directly, "or at least you all are. I have other business to attend to once we arrive."

  And that was that. Ravenna had a hushed conversation with Ember about the process of releasing control over Bernie and how to do it safely, while Fern just stayed in her own head and tried to think of anything she might have missed in the pnning process.

  If Bernie goes with Angelisse, and Ember comes back with Ravenna and me... it should work, logistically anyway, but I still don't know what to do with either of them right now. They both need help in different ways, and despite all my talk, I'm not sure I can do all that much for either one. But if nothing else, she reasoned, attempting to pull up out of the spiral, I can be there for them and listen. That doesn't take too much out of me, usually.

  By the time they stepped out of the cave entrance, the sun had already set some time ago. "Well, so much for the sunshine," Bernie mused, "but the fresh air can't be beat, yeah?"

  "You're awfully chipper," Angelisse groused, though with hardly any edge to her words. "Are you going to be like this the entire journey to the east?"

  "As long as I think you need it, ma'am," he returned with a little grin.

  Yeah, Fern thought with a smile of her own, I think those two will do just fine together.

  The trip back to the library turned out a little on the surreal side with Ravenna still not being entirely herself, but also drinking deep of the aether in the surrounding darkness after being starved of it. Once she materialized massive amorphous shadowy wings with enough aetheric pressure to make Angelisse quail in terror, Ember had to hang onto the dark mage's boots from underneath and guide her between the trees to make sure she didn't sm into anything on the way. Bernie simply swept Angelisse off the ground and carried her himself, and Fern skated along in the back of the group under her own, much lesser power; no fshy wings, just carefully maniputed darkness underfoot.

  Listening to the faint sounds of her partner's half-mad giggling drifting back as she tore through the night on those wings, and occasionally soft whimpers from the noblewoman who didn't much seem to be enjoying the experience, Fern could barely see anything but the one moon that was out tonight occasionally fshing through gaps in the trees. Their speed had to be half again what it was on the trip there, yet it felt so... effortless. Does Ravenna somehow alter the dark aether around her, too, and not just what she uses? she pondered. Or maybe it's the moon at work? I want to get into that astrology book even more now...

  Eventually they cleared the edge of the forest, and then it was only seconds to the library's front door, where everyone piled up in front of the steps. The hulking shadow occupying them rose, stretching out, resolving into a familiar shape-

  "Couldn't sleep, princess?" Ember murmured, with only a mild hint of animosity in her voice as she guided Ravenna back to the ground, the dark mage's wings slowly dissolving and their aether returning to the shadows.

  The former pilot shook her head. "Nice night tonight, wanted to enjoy it." She peered at the five dim silhouettes, the front of the library unlit but for the moonlight. "Someone new?"

  "Yeah. Library have room for a few hours?"

  She exhaled through her teeth. "Only 'cause he knows you already. But you're all sleeping on the floor, we're not equipped to be an inn."

  Ember just grinned. "I've had worse. We'll manage."

  No one else seemed interested in compining or offering opinions, so the oversize woman delicately opened the library door and let everyone inside. A trip upstairs and a little muffled fumbling in the dark with pillows and packs, and all was quiet once again.

  Just for a brief moment; but moments were better than nothing.

  Somehow, Geoffrey had put together breakfast for everyone on the balcony by the time they groggily came to, or snapped awake, or whatever their individual reaction was to getting a handful of hours of sleep.

  It was fish, of course, but lightly salted, with rice and some sort of soup served along with it. Almost anything would have been good on their mostly empty stomachs, but once again Fern found herself pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was. Even a retively simple meal like this was handled with such care and artistry.

  The librarian looked around at the worn-out faces around the tables he'd put together for the occasion. Everyone was here this morning; even his dear princess had come to join them, though she was the best off by far, having avoided whatever the rest of the group had clearly suffered through since he'd seen them st, as well as the one fresh face he didn't recognize. Out of the lot of them, Ravenna certainly looked the worst off. At least she has good people around her, he mused, though the thought didn't provide much comfort.

  "If you need anything I can provide," he offered quietly, "all you have to do is ask."

  Fern smiled, though it wasn't much of one. "You've already done so much for us, it doesn't feel right to impose any further. But-" She gnced around the table, briefly. "I don't know that there's a lot to be done at this point, other than... keep going. Until we can rest properly."

  A few nods of agreement, but no one else spoke. Angelisse stared down at her pte, fish half-eaten.

  "Well then," Geoffrey returned, "I hope that your journey leads to a restful pce sooner, rather than ter."

  There, on the steps of the library, with breakfast barely starting to settle in their stomachs, Ravenna and Ember finally unwove the threads of control sewn into Bernie's mind.

  The mood was only slightly improved over breakfast. Angelisse didn't bother watching at all, just sitting against her pack and staring east toward the port. Fern at least tried to watch for a few moments, but it soon became clear that whatever was happening was an internal process, or else the flows of aether in use were so fine as to be hidden from her view completely. Since there was nothing for her to learn by observation, she sat and waited silently as well, not wanting to disturb what was no doubt a delicate operation.

  The sun had been up and shifted its arc by some few degrees at least by the time both women let out a breath it sounded like they'd been holding for far too long. "How's that feel now?" Ember asked. She sounded even more exhausted than she'd looked at the table that morning.

  Bernie blinked a few times, tilted his head, rolled his shoulders, flexed a little. "Not that much different, I guess. Is it supposed to?"

  "Bloodhound," Ravenna murmured, "sp your own cheek. But like, lightly."

  He blinked again, then smiled. "No ma'am, I don't think I will."

  The dark mage sighed so deep it sounded like breakfast might made a second appearance if she wasn't careful. "I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve all that. All this."

  "Ah, no need to take it too hard, ma'am. As I told your partner earlier-" He gnced over at Fern. "The guild was a lot worse to me than you ever were, if I'm bein' honest with you. Which I am, just so you know, not tryin' to spare your feelings or anything like that. Hells, I didn't expect to be alive right now, and here I am about to take a trip to the east and take in the sights! Once the job's done, of course."

  "Presumably you want some sort of payment for that, though," Ember mused.

  He nodded. "If you'd be so kind - I kinda like these tricks you stuffed up my sleeves. If you let me keep 'em, and gimme some tips on how to control 'em properly, I'd say that squares us all up for everything, not just the job."

  The healer stared at him dully for a few moments. "... Alright. But hear me out on this." She took a deep breath and let it out. "The thing I did to you, that's a forbidden procedure. In the west. You understand what that means? How serious it is?"

  Bernie nodded. "Can't say as I know the full piece of it, but yeah, I get it's about as serious as serious gets."

  "Right. So don't fuck around with it." Ember fixed him with a stare. "Because if you do, it's probably gonna be me coming after you to tear that shit out of you, and I'm not gonna be gentle. And it won't be a fair fight, either."

  He lifted his hands in mock-surrender, but he was smiling. "I'll do my best not to make any trouble for you, Miz Grace. I figure your life has more 'n enough of that as it is."

  "Fuckin' aye."

  They watched the two of them walk down the path: Angelisse first, then Bernie right behind her carrying the dy's pack on his shoulders without the slightest sign of effort.

  "You think we'll see them again?" Fern murmured quietly.

  Ravenna tapped a white-gloved finger against her chin. "It's possible, I suppose. But not very likely, if I'm being honest. The east is a complicated pce, and as much as I'd like to see Vivi again..." She trailed off. "But no one can see how things will end up, you know? I've never known a fortune-teller who was more than a good guesser."

  Ember quirked a brow. "Why, though? Do you want to?"

  The fallen hero smiled, just a little. "I think so, yeah. If nothing else... just so this won't be our only meeting."