Felix watched with a frown as Hildemar and Menium argued over a game of cards.

  ‘I messed up.’ He admitted to himself with a sigh.

  At first, Menium was just as angry as Felix. For the first hour after Hildemar became his personal servant, Menium had him peeling grapes and feeding him while he lounged around. He quickly grew bored with that and started having Hildemar carry him around the train like he was Menium’s mount.

  At first, Felix felt vindicated. He’d gotten back at the person who’d used Menium for his own entertainment. That changed as their games changed. Soon, Menium stopped bossing Hildemar around, and they just started playing together.

  It was then that Felix realised just how young Hildemar was for a dwarf. While they weren’t nearly as long-lived as elves, the dwarves were still fey. Without realising it, he’d bullied a child for acting like one. On top of that, he’d put the young dwarf’s job at risk for it.

  If he thought about it a little longer, he’d probably have realised it before he ever called the conductor.

  ‘But I didn’t think about it… It feels like everything’s been a mess since I spoke to Grandma.’

  Felix watched Menium chirp in outrage after Hildemar won the round. After a brief bout of teasing, the two started the next match.

  ‘Its deflection isn’t it? I felt bad for what I did to Menium and instead of facing what I did I blamed Hildemar.’

  Felix let out a sigh and let his head fall back.

  “There’s no helping it.” He murmured.

  The next time Menium and Hildemar finished a match, he got up to speak with them.

  “Hildemar, can I speak to you?”

  The look of worry on his face just made things worse.

  “Ah, sir. Did I do something wrong?”

  Even Menium looked at Felix worried, he started chirping up at him to defend his friend.

  “No, it’s nothing like that. Could you please fetch the conductor from last time? There’s something I need to tell him.”

  Hildemar’s face paled as he stammered out agreement and rushed off to fetch the conductor. Leaving Felix alone with Menium, who took to explaining that he was ok, and that Felix didn’t have to scold them again.

  “It’s not that, Menium, don’t worry. I won’t be mean to your friend.” Felix said while petting the monkey’s head.

  A few minutes later, a panting conductor and Hildemar entered the compartment. The conductor’s rush confirmed what Felix had already expected. He’d spotted a guard watching them after their last encounter. Now he was sure the guard was checking to see if he really had a mind affinity. Not that he’d be able to tell if Felix could actually use memory spells just from looking, but it was probably enough for the conductor to treat the matter seriously.

  “Ah, sir. You called? If Hildemar did anything to offend you, you may rest assured that we’ll take care of it. Grimshaw’s Rail is committed to making sure your journey ends pleasantly, regardless of the cost. We’ve already prepared to refund you for this trip and give you a free VIP trip to a destination of your choice. We’ll have it all ready for you when you get to your destination”

  Felix sighed. From the conductor’s words, he could tell that they were ready to fire Hildemar if it meant satisfying him.

  “Ah, that’s good, I do have a favour to ask, but first…”

  Felix bowed to the two of them.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Ah?!”

  Felix couldn’t see their faces, but he could imagine their expressions.

  “I was unfair to you before. It’s clear that Hildemar didn’t mean any offence, and even if he did, my reaction went overboard.”

  Felix straightened to see their flabbergasted expressions looking back at him. Even Menium looked at him in surprise. He waited patiently for them to come back to their senses, long enough for the silence to become awkward.

  When he saw the expression on the conductor’s face shift to doubt, he quickly spoke up.

  “Ah, I don’t need any other compensation, but if I can ask that you make sure this incident doesn’t reflect negatively on Hildemar, I’d appreciate it. I’m also willing to compensate the railroad for the time he spent looking after us personally.”

  “That…”

  The conductor blinked and finally let out a sigh.

  “That’s alright, it won’t be hard to report the incident in a way that won’t reflect negatively on him. Thank you. I’m not sure how this incident would have affected him, but I’m glad it could be resolved without issue. If it isn’t overstepping, may I ask why you had the change of heart?”

  Felix looked awkwardly at Menium and Hildemar. After urging them to go play some more, he vaguely explained the situation to the conductor, leaving out anything that could be considered sensitive information. What started as a tense confrontation ended with the conductor showering Felix with parenting advice. It was possibly the most painfully awkward conversation he’d ever had to endure.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Now it’s important that you don’t let him share your bed too long. You’ll want to let him have his own rooms, even in inns. At the very least he should have his own bed. It’s important for them to develop their independence…”

  He initially thought the conductor was unaware, but by the time they reached their stop, he was sure the old dwarf was doing it on purpose. Especially after he started talking about how to handle it when Menium started dating.

  Felix didn’t have the heart to stop him, though, so he endured it as best he could. Besides, it wasn’t entirely useless information. He actually felt a little more equipped to handle his fragile relationship with Menium when they disembarked.

  Hildemar and Menium had such an emotional goodbye that the only way Felix could separate them was by promising to let them keep in touch via mail. Considering Hildemar wasn’t a Traveller, it wasn’t as easy as just sending letters through the Explorer’s guild. It would no doubt cost him a fair amount of coin and time to set it up, but after facing Menium’s pleading eyes, he couldn’t say no. Especially since they stabbed right into his lingering feelings of guilt.

  After collecting their cart, they carefully made their way through the busy station and into the organised chaos of the Stonehold. The hold was built between two gargantuan shards of stone that jutted out onto the highland plateau. The plateau was used as fields to feed the massive hold, while the sides of the shards were mined for rare metals to feed the hold’s ravenous industrial heart.

  Felix made his way towards the edge of the city, near the plateaus and part of the shard that had been converted into a vertical garden. He knew from Agrona’s letters that her latest adventure involved running a food cart in the district, and after asking around for a while, he found her quite easily.

  Well, rather than finding her, he found the massive queue to her stall, most of her patrons were dwarves, and so it was easy to spot her signature voluminous hat over the crowd.

  “That’s her, Meni. What do you say we wait in line and surprise her?”

  Menium chirped.

  “That’s a good point. How about I sit in the cart, and you pull us forward, that way she won’t see me until we’re near the front?”

  Menium argued.

  “Ugh, fine if you don’t want to pull it, we can just skip to the front, I’m sure she won’t mind us cutting the line if we don’t order anything.”

  After carefully considering his options, Menium agreed to pull the cart in exchange for an extra portion. With a chuckle, Felix agreed and got in the cart. Even with the length of the queue, they reached the front mercifully quickly, struggling to keep from drooling the entire way. The smell of grilling meat and caramelising marinade was so alluring that by the time they reached the front, Felix had doubled the order he had planned to place.

  When they eventually reached the front of the queue, they realised their plans were for nought. Agrona was focused on cooking, her back to the crowd, while a younger girl took the orders and handed out the food.

  Rolling his eyes, he got off the cart.

  “I’ll take four, and Menium here will have six.”

  He raised his voice slightly while placing the order, hoping Agrona would notice. Alas, she just kept cooking with her back turned, intently focusing on the skewers in front of her.

  After the girl handed him their order and he paid, he was left awkwardly standing at the front of the line. Sharing a look with Menium, neither of them was sure what to do after their grand plan had fallen through.

  “Is there anything else, sir?”

  Felix sighed.

  “Uhm, yeah, could you grab her attention for a moment, please?”

  He gestured at Agrona with his head.

  “I’m afraid not, sir, she isn’t interested in joining your business, whatever it is. We don’t accept advertisements, and we already have all the suppliers we need. Please step aside so we can help the next customer.”

  “Uh, it’s not like that, I know her, and I just want to say hi.”

  “Sir, if you knew her, you’d know that she doesn’t like being disturbed while she’s working. Please move aside.”

  “You heard her, boy. Move along, some of us still need to get back to work.” A gruff voice called out from behind him.

  Felix was so flustered by his failed attempt at getting in contact that, before he really thought about it, he’d moved to the side while apologising. Awkwardly standing next to the stall with a handful of skewers, he looked over to see Menium pretending that he didn’t know him.

  “Right… This is dumb. Agrona!”

  Just as the lady selling the skewers and the customers at the front were about to start scolding him, Agrona turned around.

  “Felix! What are you doing here? I thought you were still wandering the Feywild?”

  “Can’t I come say hello to my favourite teacher?”

  “Ha! Of course you can! It’s good to see you, boy. You’ve grown up so… actually, you haven’t grown all that much. Are you sure you’re eating enough?” She finished with a frown.

  Felix awkwardly raised his arm, which was still packed full of skewers.

  “I’d say I’m doing alright.”

  “Ha! Good, good. C’mon, I’ll close up here, and we can chat. It’s been a long time.”

  “Uh, how about I help you finish up instead. I can feel the glares of your customers drilling into my back.”

  Turning around, he noticed that everyone, except the cashier, was pointedly looking away from him.

  “Haha. You don’t need to mind them, but you’re right. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you work. Put those down and show me what you’ve learned. Hopefully, you still know how to grill after so long living with those herbivores."

  Felix rolled his eyes.

  “You know I distinctly recall a certain someone asking me for more recipes with every letter she sent me...”

  “Bah! And who would that be? Stop yapping and get to work.” Agrona attempted to sound harsh, but she didn’t hide her grin.

  What started as an offer of help quickly devolved into Felix doing all the cooking while Agrona spoiled Menium. It made Felix’s job even harder as he not only had to cook single-handedly, but also had to keep the ravenous little monkey satisfied on top of the customers.

  Fortunately, the rush ended quickly, and Agrona decided to close the cart for the rest of the day, inviting Menium and Felix back to her home.

  Surprisingly, the cashier followed them as well. With Felix’s focus no longer being consumed by the rapid stream of orders and the need to keep up a conversation with Agrona, he noticed an issue.

  For some reason, the cashier was still glaring at him even as they were going to Agrona’s home.

  “Uhm, Agrona. You didn’t introduce me to this young lady.”

  “Oh! You two should already be familiar with each other. I wrote to you about her. This is Melody, my new apprentice. Melody, this is Felix. I’ve told you about him as well.”

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