My day was going well.

  Thanks to packing everything up nicely, Lish and I had managed to clear out all of the crafting materials in my room by lunch. There was a small hiccup when Lish insisted she do everything herself, but this wasn’t Sumbria and I wasn’t the statue-perfect Peregrine everyone expected me to be.

  No, here in my own home I could haul boxes and move furniture as I pleased. And I did please.

  The shed where we’d moved everything was still full to bursting, but it would have to do for now. With the security spells around the estate, it was hard to find a trusted contractor who could renovate the shed – let alone one on such short notice.

  Instead tackling the now empty bedroom right away, we broke for lunch instead.

  Mr Sakiyama had left meat buns and fresh cut fruit for us in the kitchen and it was everything I could have wanted and needed to prepare me for an afternoon of hard labor.

  Or I would have, if Lish didn’t have other ideas.

  “I can clean and put everything away.” Lish stated, barring me from my own room. “There is dust, and mites and mildew and all manner of things that My Lady shouldn’t have to suffer with.”

  “I already slept here last night - how bad could it be?” I asked. I’d already seen it all - from the scratched up varnish on the wooden vanity to the musty linens stuffed into the bottom of the glass cabinet - a pretty thing we’d found behind the tower of fabric rolls - and the sliding door wall closets that hadn’t been swept or dusted in an age.

  Sleeping alone in the unfamiliar room had been a mixture of exciting and lonely, and I’d hoped to fix that by unpacking and making the room my own.

  “That’s neither here nor there.” Lish said, “I will be using all of my skills to get this room back in order and…”

  “I would be in the way,” I accepted, begrudgingly leaving her to it.

  Not to be outdone, I emptied some of the miscellaneous things I’d packed into the middle of the gathering room floor so I could start sorting.

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

  I was trying to figure out if my boot daggers belonged in my shoe closet or in the weapons bins when I heard the front door slide open. A moment later the tallest fae warrior I’d ever met was bending down to get through the doorway.

  “Countess Fern?” Kiki asked - for this must be Mr. Sakiyama’s granddaughter, her butterfly wings folded down her back and her antennae brushed the tops of the ceiling. She wore casual clothes, a tunic and vest - one that I immediately recognized as high quality arachne silk weave - and sturdy wyvern leather pants.

  “Sakiyama Kiki?” I replied with a smile. “Come on in, I’m just sorting my luggage.”

  Kiki walked over to the closest pile and picked up one of my mix-matched arrows, inspecting its make. “Archer?”

  “Yes, and you?” I asked.

  “Scout Tank.” She said, putting the arrow back, clearly approving. “What rank are you?”

  “I’m not.” I admitted.

  That got a raised eyebrow from the fae, “I was told you dungeon delve?”

  “I do. It’s… different in Sumbria.” I explained about how nobility could rent dungeons as personal hunting grounds and how I didn’t need to register with a guild to go adventuring.

  Kiki, for her part, listened until I was done, then said, “Peldeep doesn’t work that way. If you wish to enter a dungeon, you will have to get a license from the Adventurers Guild.”

  “Do I have to wait until I’m a Peldeep citizen?” I asked, wondering if I could take off some of my pre-wedding nerves with a good old-fashioned dungeon run.

  “I have no idea,” Kiki said, smiling, “but I’d be happy to find out.”

  “Thank you, I appreciate that.” I smiled back at the fae, then turned to stare at the assortment of things I’d overpacked to move here. “Any chance you could also figure out where I can store all of this? I want to keep my books and archery equipment close, but the spare furniture and jewels and camping equipment can all go away for now.”

  Kiki eyed an open trunk full of precious gemstones, rings and three tiaras. “You don’t want these close?”

  “They don’t fit,” I shrugged. It was one of three trunks full of jewelry that I had no idea what to do with. “My mother packed everything I’ve used since I was first presented at five years old. I have my favourites upstairs, and if I need something I can use my own funds to buy Peldeep jewelry now that I’m living here.”

  “Fair enough.” Kiki closed the lid and latched it shut. Then she picked up it and the one next to it. “If you can grab the third, I’ll take you to Bastian’s vault. They can go there for now.”

  I did, and followed her into the hallway of murals. She stopped in front of a picture of a lake and shook her antennae at it. The mural slid aside to reveal a mostly empty bookshelf. There were a few sacks of coin, a hand drawn children’s drawing of Bastian and his mother under a yellow sun, and a frame for the drakin’s medals of honor.

  “Here we go,” Kiki said, tucked the two trunks on the bottom shelf. “There’s room for more if you have anything else that you want to keep safe. There are three celestial levels of locks on the painting, and only three people can open it right now. I’m sure grandpa will have you keyed to the enchantment as soon as he can.

  I only nodded, too distracted by the cute picture of the white-haired boy in the drawing.

  I wondered what Bastian was doing now.