Breakfast the next morning was a quiet affair. Cowed by their inglorious defeat at Jasper's hands and damn near beggared after paying for the destruction in the tavern, the guards would barely even look at them as they took their seats. That was okay with him, though, as long as they did their job.

Nīla, on the other hand, seemed to have sprung to life, her face and hands animated as she held court with the women of his party gathered around her. Unable to grab his usual seat beside Ihra, Jasper was forced to find a different dining companion.

Erin gave him a quiet nod as Jasper plopped down beside him, before returning his attention to the pile of steaming food burying his plate. Jasper couldn't blame him; while the tavern may not have been as luxurious as those in the central market, it knew its audience, guilders and soldiers, all too well. The portions were as delicious as they were massive: perfectly poached eggs, thick rashers of bacon, crispy hashbrowns, and a steak so juicy and tender he almost didn't even need a knife.

They ate in companionable silence for a while, eavesdropping on the girls' conversation, till Jasper nudged the scout in the ribs. "So, did you buy that dress you were so desperate to look at?" he asked, with a wicked grin.

"Hey, I just wanted to browse the stores," Erin defended himself, but the redness in his cheeks gave it away.

"Right," Jasper winked, "and that's why you rushed straight to the dress store; the fact that Tsia was also headed there was totally a coincidence."

"What do you want me to say - that I like her? Fine. I do," Erin shrugged.

"So, are you going to tell her that?"

"And do what?" the scout scoffed. "She's so far out of my league it isn't funny. She's a princess, Jasper, an actual, factual princess. And if that wasn't enough, she's drop-dead gorgeous and a fantastic mage. Maybe while I'm at it, when I get back to earth, I'll give ScarJo, see if she wants to hang out and shoot the breeze."

"ScarJo, really?" Jasper blurted out, and Erin bristled defensively.

"What? She's hot."

"I mean, yeah, I won't argue with you on that, but ain't she a little old for you? You're what, twenty?" Though Jasper had never asked Erin's age, it was obvious the man was quite a bit younger than him. "She's probably old enough to be your mom."

"I'm twenty-one," the scout corrected him defiantly, and though Jasper hadn't thought it possible, the scout's ears turned an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"Holy crap, she's older than your mom, isn't she?" The realization hit him.

"Only by a year or two," he mumbled, "and, besides, my mom had me really young."

"Go figure - you have mommy issues, and Tsia, well, she's got daddy and mommy issues - it's like you were made for each other," Jasper chuckled. "But seriously, you realize there's a difference between ScarJo and Tsia, right? And not just because they could be mother and daughter," he added, unable to resist the urge to get another jab in.

"I think I can tell the difference between them," Erin replied frostily, poking with his fork at his now empty plate.

"Good, because ScarJo may not know you exist, but Tsia does, and I think if you asked her to do something, she'd probably say yes."

"Like what? In case you hadn't noticed, there aren't exactly a lot of coffee shops and movie theatres around."

Erin had a point; while Jasper had had a few short flings since arriving in Corsythia, he hadn't had a serious relationship with anyone, unless one counted Ihra. But that was purely platonic. Purely. "Alright, I admit there aren't the usual opportunities here, but I'm sure there's something you could do. She seemed pretty interested in that shiny temple on the top of the mountain."

"She's not the only one."

Jasper and Erin jumped as Ihra suddenly loomed over their shoulders.

"How long have you been listening in on our conversation?"

"Long enough," she smirked. "Although I have to disagree with Jasper."

"On what?" he blurted out, incredulously, as Erin's blush turned sullen.

"Told ya she wasn't in me."

"Oh, I think she likes you," Ihra disagreed with him, as she snuck the last piece of bacon off Jasper's pop, "but you should stay clear of her."

"That's kind of harsh. I know you're not besties, but-"

"I'm not saying that because I dislike her," Ihra cut him off. "But you're forgetting who she is, Jasper. Maybe in your world, peasants and princesses marry all the time, but not here. Her father may be indulging her youthful rebellion right now, but there's no way he's not keeping tabs on her. Kruvas̆ - Ardûl himself is probably sending him updates, and one of these days, he's going to arrange a suitable marriage for her, an alliance, as nobility does. And that's the easy parent - would you want Aphora as your mother-in-law?"

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At the thought, dueling images of Aphora sprang to mind - of the sheer dress she wore the first time they met, exposing every luscious curve on a body that despite being several hundred years old didn't look a day past forty, and the manic look in her eye as she pinned him to the altar at the peak of Alsarratu and drawn his blood. Having her as a mother-in-law would be a very uncomfortable, not to mention confusing, situation.

"Okay, you may have a point," he admitted, banishing the dress from his mind with some difficulty, "but I still think it wouldn't do any harm. For God's sake-"

"What wouldn't do any harm?" This time, it was Tsia and Nīla who'd snuck up on them, and Jasper spun around with a curse.

"Geez, we need to put a bell on you girls."

"And why do I need a bell? What were you talking about?"

"Visiting the temple at the peak," Jasper replied, grasping at the first thing that came to mind.

"Ooh - can we?" He felt bad as her face lit up with excitement, and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, you'd have to ask Nīla. What say you, Lady Ambassador?" he smiled up at her, "Do we have time to visit S̆ams̆a's Throne?"

"Well…" The girl's nervous wringing of her hands was all the answer they needed, and Tsia's shoulders slumped with a sigh.

"It seems such a shame to leave without visiting it, but if the Emperor requires it…"

"It's not that," the girl admitted, shamefacedly. "We arrived nearly a week ahead of schedule; I'm sure Lord Eligon wouldn't care if we rested a day or two but…I can't go," she finished, at a nearly whisper.

"Why not?" Jasper blurted out, before a fragment from their conversation the day before drifted back to him. Didn't Ihra say you need to be over level 100 to be allowed to attempt the climb? "Never mind," he added quickly, cringing. "It's not like we had time to visit a temple anyway."

"Actually, my lord," he glanced up in surprise as one of the silent guards spoke up, the woman who'd failed to join in the brawl the night before. "There might be a way, if Lady Selēnīlat is willing. The rules can be…adjusted for those with suitable guardians."

His eyes narrowed, rightly guessing she wasn't making the offer solely out of the goodness of her heart. "And what would this 'adjustment' cost us?"

She glanced at the guards around her, clearly gathering her courage, before meeting his eyes. "I was hoping the report of our…failure might be forgotten."

"No," Jasper responded promptly. While he didn't wish harm to the guards, the Emperor needed to know what his servants were doing behind his back. "We're not going to-"

"Wait." He paused as Nīla grabbed his arm and spoke up. "We can't leave out what happened entirely," she spoke to the guard. "Lord Eligon will want to know what your superiors have done, and I cannot, in good faith, leave him in the dark. But we can…adjust the details," she smiled as she repeated the guard's word back to her. "The blame need not fall entirely on your shoulders."

Maras̆s̆i turned to the other guards for support, and after receiving a begrudging nod from Ardus̆ar, accepted the offer.

It turned out that the ambassador Nīla's brother had replaced, the great-great uncle of Maras̆s̆i and Qaradīl, had retired to Merôm after his dismissal. And while he wasn't pleased to do anything to help the sister of his replacement, when he learned of the trouble the twins had gotten into, he caved. "Bloody fools. I told them to leave well enough alone. That kruvas̆-cursed Emperor is nothing like his father," he'd grumbled but, in the end, he'd pulled some strings with the temple guards, and the entire group, Nīla included, had been issued a permit to attempt the ascent, though he'd advised against it. "The rules aren't just for show, you know - thousands of pilgrims have died on the ascent."

"Will she be fine as long as we protect her?" Jasper asked, and the man had begrudgingly nodded.

"Aye, she should be - just don't go getting her killed, or it will be my fool niece that bears the cost."

By the time they'd received the permit, it was already midday, far too late to attempt the ascent, so they retired to the Wounded Boar. The night passed quickly in a blur of dancing and drinking, and S̆ams̆a's light came all too soon. Thus, it was a very groggy crew that reached the start of the pilgrim path just after dawn and flashed their permits to the temple guards.

Their stares lingered on Nīla long enough that Jasper began to fear they would refuse to let her pass, but eventually they waved them through, and the ascent began.

The first few hours passed quickly enough. The path outside of the city was well tended, and though it frequently slanted steeply upward, the gorgeous views and frequent stops beside the rushing mountain stream it followed made the journey seem light. But by noon, the forest had faded away, and a deep chill settled over the land as they continued past the point of habitation.

The path's condition deteriorated as barren rocks turned into icy fields, and when the winds picked up to nearly hurricane strength speeds, Jasper began to understand why passage was limited to those of a certain level. Their movement slowed as Jasper cycled through the group, infusing his fiery essence into those who were struggling to maintain their body temperature, though most of his time was spent preventing Nīla from turning into a popsicle.

Thus preoccupied, he didn't notice they had picked up a group of stalkers until Ihra nudged him in the ribs. "We're being followed."

He kept his stride steady as he scanned the frozen waste around them, but couldn't see anything. "Where?"

"All around us. S̆algū," she whispered back, "dozens of them."

It took Jasper a second to pinpoint the name, and then he recalled their trip through the frozen pass at Dūr-S̆innu, and the vaguely yeti-like creatures that had attacked them there. Amazing how long a year can feel. "What the hell are they doing here? Surely the temple doesn't put up with them?" he muttered back to her.

"I don't know - it's a big mountain," she pointed out, and he knew she was right. Mountains didn't come in this size on earth, at least not ones on dry land, and policing a land of this size would probably be nearly impossible.

"Think they'll attack?"

And as if the S̆algū had heard him, a chorus of roars rose from all sides.

"I'm gonna go with a yes."

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