I awoke to an empty office. From the hunger in my stomach I knew hours had passed. Lena had uncast the meal she'd made for me at some point, and the table in front of the sofa was empty. I rose, went to the door she'd left behind for me, and opened it.

Morning. I'd been asleep longer than I wanted. In a daze, I shuffled the streets of Blythe with a singular purpose. To ask for help from those whom I've always hated. I needed to do it, for Mallow's sake.

The Avalonry was now becoming a familiar sight. The white marble of its exterior was slightly purple in the early morning shadows. There were no puddles on the path leading up to it. Shoving Divinis Wenrick hadn't made Sir Osoro lose his magic. Or they'd assigned someone else to rain duty. I inhaled, nervous after so many unpleasant encounters with Avalons over the years. To buy time, I gave a small wave at my friends the fish in the pond. For the first time, someone waved back.

"Wait, wait!" Thessa swam from the backside of the pond to the side by the door. She folded her arms and rested her elbows on the ledge, staring up at me. Color had entered her cheeks again, though the wet hair reminded me of how she'd been sweating from pain yesterday. "Aren't you goin' to say hi to the maiden ya rescued?"

I bowed an apology. She'd been through a lot and deserved a certain level of humoring.

"Ah fair Thessa, how I'd like to, but I'm really busy right now. I promise I'll come visit you later," I lied. If I ever made it out of Blythe, I was never ever coming back.

The Avalons had given her a small gauzy top, enough to cover her chest but not so much as to get heavy with the water. Her legs were gone, the tail and fin now sturdier. No blood or exposed muscle was visible anymore. Passersby kept coming by and remarking on how beautiful she was, but her attention was focused entirely on me. I watched as a handful of coins were flipped into the water. Some money for her troubles? And yet, she didn't seem troubled by last night's events. In the dawn sunlight, clean and smiling, she was pretty.

"My parents are going to the capitol," she said, as oblivious as she'd been before, hanging out of my carriage. "Agent Quarzimi from Arcana Enforcement, he's got that swishy red tunic with a funny mask, said my parents needed to get a council or something for me to get me protected under the law now that I'm not an elf anymore. Me and my kids, if I ever have any." She peered down at her navel. "Though I don't seem to have that part anymore... so how is that...? Do you know how fish pee?"

"That's a good question, perhaps one of your admirers can read you a book from the library on the topic."

"Augh, that sounds really difficult. I think I'll keep asking. Someone's got to know."

"And you should." I rose my fist to knock at the door, but Thessa reached out and touched my bare ankle. I felt the cold sting of coins against my skin.

"Okay, but since you saved me, you gotta come back an' marry me. Here's part of my dowry; you can use it to buy shoes."

I glanced down. Two silver coins glinted from her glistening hand, their edges pressed against my exposed ankle. I took a step away from her, and her face crinkled with the rejection. My own heart ached from the thoughtless kindness of her gesture. Her legs had been stolen, but she was concerned for my lack of shoes. Thessa was a real treasure of a girl, in a different way than Mallow but valuable all the same. It wasn't right she'd suffered so and still was generous. The opposite of how I'd reacted to my loss.

"I thought you wanted to marry a sorcerer."

"I can't trust a sorcerer. But... I can trust you."

Someone trusting me. Me? When she knew I had lied to all those people. She trusted me?

"You know Winsor did more of the saving."

"I know. He did. And I guess he's not as weird as I thought... That Ricardo guy acted really charming ... but really was a total creep. Maybe that means since Winsor seems like a creep he's actually really charming... He still smells weird though."

She retracted her hand, the coins disappearing beneath the water.

"Weirder than half fish?" I teased. She gasped and then dipped below the water. She spat a stream of water from her lips. I sidestepped and she glowered at me before swimming away. Perhaps it had been mean to say, but her mood had somehow instantly improved, losing its melancholy edge.

(( A/N: Only 11 chapters left.  For those of you who have been around, thanks so much for reading my tale!  ))