Predictably, Violet retreats at the first sign of having to actually socialize. Less predictably, instead of Allison, somehow I end up in front.

"You're such a baby," I complain as Talla guides us through the busy city streets. "If the only time you deal with people is when killing them, you're going to look like a psychopath."

"You are the last person I want to hear that from," Vi scoffs. "You are the worst at speaking to people."

"Better than you."

"Oh really?" she challenges. "Look Talla in the eye right now and tell her what you think of her hair."

I glance up at Talla, who meets my gaze with an amused look, then suddenly find the paving stones incredibly fascinating. Actual brick pavement instead of cobblestone—that's gotta be expensive.

"I don't need to prove anything to you," I mutter.

"What's wrong?" Talla asks, not quite suppressing the amusement in her voice. "Is something wrong with my hair?"

"N-no," I stammer. "It's fine."

"Just fine?" she presses. "Oh dear, I guess that's what weeks of travel gets me. I'll have to pay a visit to a stylist."

My face threatens to spontaneously combust as I try to find my words. "I-I mean it's—you're—I'm—I-I like—"

"Alright guys, you've made your point," Allie cuts in. "You can stop bullying her."

"No, no," Evelyn says. "Please continue, I'm enjoying this."

"You guys suck," I grumble balefully, already plotting my revenge.

"Actually, I'm curious," Vi says. "Talla, you've obviously noticed Maggie's enormous crush on you."

"Vi!" I squeak helplessly.

"I'm sorry, but this could be important," she insists. "You don't seem offended, so I have to ask, how does Fa'aun culture view same-sex relationships?"

I don't have it in me to look at Talla while she considers the question. I swear to the Goddess, if she says it's illegal or immoral I'm burning this whole fucking place to the ground.

"Hmm, that's sort of an odd way to put it," she muses. "It depends on who we're talking about. Noble daughters are expected to provide heiresses, so we have to get married eventually. But we also have to choose our husbands carefully. At the same time, it's traditionally a man's role to initiate courtship."

"None of that really answers the question," Violet points out.

"Patience! I'm giving you context," Talla retorts. "So young women spend a lot of time just waiting around for a man to offer themselves, only to turn them down most of the time. It would be scandalous for them to have a relationship with a man they weren't going to marry, and even more if she were the one to start it. But..."

I manage to tear my eyes off of the pavement just long enough to catch her giving me a sidelong glance.

"Well, some people consider it a moral loophole, but most agree that there's nothing wrong with women courting each other for fun or practice. The third empress was even infamous for taking multiple wives, zero husbands, and never having any daughters—which led to one of the messiest successions in imperial history. I had a few girlfriends in college, myself."

Yes! Yahooey! We've got a shot!

"Hold on," Allie interjects.

No! Don't hold on! No holding! Zero brakes! Full steam ahead!

"What about men?" she asks.

My thoughts grind to a halt. Oh shit. Leave it to Allison to find the gaps in Talla's explanation.

"Well, a man who doesn't marry isn't much of a man," Talla answers.

Oh fuck. Okay, so she's a little sexist. It's fixable. We can fix her!

"That's a rather rude sentiment to hold, isn't it?" Evelyn cuts in.

Evelyn?! Miss Order, Light, and Purity is defending gay rights?! Am I in bizzaro world?

"Sir Draga is unmarried and clanless, but he's as respectable a man as any I've met."

"You're right, sorry," Talla says. "That's not really my opinion, but it's a common one, and what I was raised to believe. Men should be free to love whoever they want—even if it's a little..."

"A little what?" Eva presses. "Nobody is asking you to get involved—in fact, the men in question would rather prefer it that way."

Holy shit, she's cooking! It's the last place I ever expected to find an ally, but hell yeah!

"I know!" Talla huffs defensively. "I shouldn't judge, I just—I don't get it."

"Hold on, you literally just said you've had girlfriends," I point out—finally finding my damn voice.

"That's different!" she protests.

"It's really not," Allison deadpans.

"But I think that answers the question nicely," Vi concludes.

"Sorry," Talla sighs. "I didn't mean to offend anybody. I really don't think there's anything wrong with it."

"But the prevailing opinion is that men shouldn't have same-sex relationships, right?" Allie says. "And that it's fine for women."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Well, maybe not fine, but it's a socially acceptable vice."

Vice, huh? Whew, this might be more work than I realized.

"It may have changed since my time," Evelyn says, "but among the lower classes, attitudes are less stringent. I knew many men and women who preferred partners of the same sex."

"Wait, really?" I ask curiously. "Weren't you like...super sheltered? Raised in a cloister and all that?"

"I don't know what sort of mental image you have of my upbringing, but my fellow sisters and I weren't confined to the abbey. We could move freely when we weren't otherwise assigned."

Well, that's what I get for not challenging my own assumptions.

"So just to be clear," I murmur quietly, "your only problem with me is the way I learned magic?"

"No," she replies curtly. "I also find your disrespect for the church and penchant for extreme violence despicable."

That's rich coming from the girl who was ready to have a bunch of kids put up on pikes for trying to mug us.

"Besides, to use your own words, you're also just kind of a bitch."

"Only kind of?" I sigh. I must be slipping.

"We're here," Talla interrupts, gesturing around us. "Welcome to my home!"

I raise my head and blink, taking in the sight of...another street.

"Huh?" I grunt in confusion. "Which house is yours?"

I was expecting a big mansion or an estate like Maari's, but as far as I can tell we're still in the middle of the city. A nicer part of the city, clearly—there's grass, bushes, and even the occasional tree planted as decoration, the traffic is less dense, and everyone's well dressed.

"Mine?" she asks. "Well, my room is in the central estate, but if you mean my family, then—all of it. This is the Goa district."

What the fuck? I know Talla's family is rich, but this is forcing me to internally redefine my definition of the word.

"Your family owns an entire district of the city?" Allison asks incredulously.

"Strictly speaking, Clan Baanu owns the entire city," Talla clarifies. "This has been our land since before the empire was founded. That's also why Stebaari isn't the nation's capital—at least, not anymore."

I'm sure Allie will want to know more about that, but I don't really care about history or politics.

"Talla's back!" a distant voice shouts.

Moments later, we're swarmed by a demonic horde of evil creatures, surrounding us in an instant and rendering Talla helpless to defend from their assault.

"Hey kids! Yes, I'm home, calm down. I'm not going any—ow! Graaha, no butting!"

Children. At least a dozen tiny hellspawn crowd around Talla—even worse, half again as many split off to go after us!

"Who are you?" one asks.

"Where are your horns?" another pesters.

A third starts tugging on our skirt. "Why are your hooves flat?"

"Did your mommy make you shave all your fur?"

"Why do you have dots?"

"Fuck!"

That last one was me—one of the little shits just headbutted me in the shin.

"Graaha! What did I just say?!" Talla scolds it. "Kids, I've got a special job for you all—a quest that only you can complete!"

The vicious little creatures are briefly tamed by Talla's hypnotic voice, but it can only last for so long.

"Go find Lady Kel and inform her that I've arrived with a guest," she orders them. "The matriarch will want to greet us."

"Okay!" the group choruses, before scattering like the creepy little insects they are.

"Sorry about that," Talla sighs. "I'm out on mission a lot, so the kids always get excited when I return. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" I answer cheerfully. "Cute kids. Do you actually shave children that misbehave?"

Talla blinks. "Uh, no—that's just a threat. I think. Sorry if I'm wrong, but...Allie?"

She gives me a searching look, and I realize that she's probably right.

"Yeah, it's me," I confirm.

"When did you switch?" she asks. "I have my spell active right now, and I usually notice."

I shrug. "Dunno. After the children left, I guess. I don't think Mags likes them much."

"Bug-eyed little freaks," she mutters quietly.

"I see..." Talla muses. "Well, we should get moving—despite what I said to the kids, my mother definitely already knows we're here, and she'll be annoyed if we keep her waiting."

"Lead the way!"

As Talla leads us down the street, I look around, comparing the Goa district to the other parts of the city. The first thing I notice is the smell—or lack of one. Although Fa'aun society is more advanced than I realized, indoor plumbing doesn't seem to have taken off quite yet, and the closest they have to sewers are gutters that the unlucky street sweepers have to keep clean. Either this place has much more diligent sweepers, or they've got an actual sewer—possibly both.

The next thing I notice is white fur. I've seen enough people now to confirm that most Fa'aun have fur colors that range from a dark chocolate brown to a light tan, with a few russet and tawny shades here and there. Every single person with white fur I've met has been a member of Clan Baanu, and while it's not completely ubiquitous, I'm seeing a lot more white fur here than anywhere else.

"Does everyone in your clan have white fur?" I ask.

"Not everyone, no," Talla replies. "There's men who marry in, of course, and boys only get it around half the time, but every daughter of Baanu has our signature fur color. Why?"

"I guess I'm just wondering if there's discrimination based on fur color."

"Not really," Talla hedges. "Lighter fur colors are usually considered more attractive, if that's what you mean."

"It's rare, but some lucky few are born with white fur outside of the nobility," Evie chimes in.

I mean, that sounds a bit like discrimination to me, but I guess it's not quite what I was worried about.

Our conversation has to end there, because as we come up on the sort of estate I was imagining when Talla said she was taking us to her home, a tall and well-dressed woman emerges to greet us with open arms.

"Talla! My daughter returns!" she exclaims brightly.

The Goa matriarch is dressed in a proper dress, loosely flowing in the style of all Fa'aun clothing, but with the kind of full coverage that I've only seen on the village elder before. It's bleach-white with red and orange accents, and rather than the usual cloak or shawl, she has a long scarf-like garment draped loosely across her arms and shoulders like a cloth serpent.

Otherwise, she just looks like another Talla—same eyes, same facial structure, and even the same pattern in the twist of her horns. Her mother is taller, with slightly darker fur and a few more visible wrinkles around the eyes, but otherwise it's a spitting image.

Talla gives her mother a Fa'aun style bow, but the older woman doesn't break stride until she engulfs her daughter in a tight embrace.

"It's so good to have you home safe again!" she sighs. "When are you going to give up on these childish adventures and settle down?"

"When I'm ready, mother," Talla groans.

"I heard things went poorly this time," Lady Goa says, her tone growing more somber as she releases Talla from her embrace.

"Ugh, already?! How?"

"You know how cousin Maari likes to talk. She was trying to be subtle—Goddess bless her heart—but her letter arrived a day before you did and anybody in the know understood its meaning. Lady Gaa is apoplectic. Are you alright, my child?"

Talla scratches at her horns and groans again. "I'm fine, but—oh, godshit, Draga's going to get torn apart!"

"Language, dear," Lady Goa scolds her. "You're picking up bad habits keeping the company of those rangers. Speaking of which—when were you planning on introducing your little friend?"

"Right!" Talla says, smacking her forehead. "Mother, this is Maev. Maev, this is Lady Tamara Goa Baanu, matriarch of the Goa family and my mother. Mom, I'd like to host Maev here as a guest for a while."

I give the lady my best impression of a Fa'aun bow, even if it kinda hurts my neck to do it.

"Uh, hello," I greet her with a small wave. "Nice to meet you."

"How charming!" Lady Goa says with a smile. "Please, come in and tell me all about your adventure. I'm eager to learn how and why my family has ended up hosting a dungeon-borne."

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