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“Are they always like this?” Alora asked as she munched on a piece of meat. She was sitting at a table, her seat next to Vur’s. Across from them, Mr. Skelly was operating a grill, placing plate after plate of food in front of Vur, who was clearing their contents as fast as they appeared. Alice and Tafel each occupied one head of the table, glaring at each other with their utensils in their hands. Their steaks were untouched, and the steam that had been rising off of them had already disappeared.
“No,” Vur said after finishing another plate. “Alice is usually a lot louder. Like a bear.”
Alice slammed her fist against the table, causing multiple plates to clink. Her head snapped towards Vur, veins bulging on her forehead. “What did you call me?”
“Yeah, just like that,” Vur said and nodded. He turned his head towards Alora. “See?”
“Mm, I’m not sure,” Alora said and scratched her head. “She reminds me more of an angry puppy.”
“An incorrect angry puppy,” Tafel said under her breath, but everyone heard her anyway. She snorted and lowered her head, cutting apart the steak in front of her, ignoring Alice’s withering gaze. “This meat cost as much as the potatoes. Doesn’t that mean there’s an abundance of it? How are people starving?”
Alice pointed her knife at Tafel. “That just means the potatoes are as scarce as meat! Potatoes are a staple food. They shouldn’t cost as much as a luxury. Normal people can’t afford to buy it!”
Tafel gestured around the plaza filled with women, the previous sacrifices. They were laughing while chatting, eating at tables similar to theirs. Smoke from multiple grills filled the air, and the smell of meat and potatoes wafted around, attracting wild birds to the region. “If this is your definition of starving, then I’ve never been full in my life.”
Alice ground her teeth together. She pushed her plate away from herself. “You know what, I—”
“You going to eat that?” Alora asked, pointing at the steak on Alice’s plate. Alice choked midsentence and glared at Alora. The polymorphed dragon shrugged and grabbed the steak with her bare hands before taking a big bite out of it. “Whew. Stomach’s become full a lot quicker when you’re smaller, huh?”
“I don’t like you,” Alice said to Alora. “And our names are too similar.”
“Then change yours,” Alora said, chomping into the bone of the T-bone steak. It crumbled without resistance. “I was named first since I was born first.”
“How long is your cousin staying with us?” Alice asked Vur.
“Fifty years,” Vur said.
Alice froze. “Years?”
“Yup.” Alora and Vur nodded at the same time while Tafel sighed.
“I’d like to rescind my application to your party,” Alice said, her face expressionless.
“You can’t do that,” Tafel said before Vur could respond.
“Can’t I?”
Tafel shook her head. “You’re not allowed to. Without you, we don’t have a tank.” She glanced at Vur. “You don’t count.” Her head turned back towards Alice. “Besides, it’s in the contract. You’re not allowed to leave.”
“What?” Alice asked. “Let me see.”
Tafel reached into a portal and took out a piece of paper. “This is just a copy, so it doesn’t matter if you destroy it,” she said and placed it into Alice’s waiting hand.
Alice scanned the page and frowned. “I don’t see any clause that says I can’t leave…,” she said as she flipped the paper around. There was nothing on the back, so she flipped it back. She raised it up and squinted at it. “If there was a clause like that, I wouldn’t have signed in the first place. Where is it?”
The page flew out of Alice’s hands as Mr. Skelly reached forward and snatched it. “I was the one who taught Tafel this trick,” he said with a grin. He reached into the grill and pulled out a burning coal, bringing it close to the paper. As the page heated up, letters appeared in a previously blank space. “You should be more careful about the things you sign, dear.”
Alice’s eye twitched as she grabbed the paper and tore it to shreds. She flung the scraps towards Tafel’s face. “That doesn’t count and you know it!”
“What’s wrong with Alice today?” Sheryl whispered from Vur’s shoulder. Alora flinched at the sound, drawing away from Vur as she narrowed her eyes at the sun-like rune.
“She’s on her period,” Stella whispered back.
“Her what?” Zilphy asked.
“It’s a thing that happens to humans and elves,” Stella said. Her head poked out of Vur’s chest and stared at Tafel. “And demons. It’s very inconvenient and makes no sense. They start bleeding out of their—ack!” Stella retreated into Vur’s chest, dodging the fork that Alice threw at her. “In conclusion, disagreeing with someone when they’re on their period is like poking a bear.”
Tafel rolled her eyes. “Not everyone becomes as prickly as Alice,” she said. “For example, I don’t.”
Stella coughed. “Uh-huh. Sure. If you say so.”
Tafel’s expression disappeared. “…Do I?”
Vur placed his hand on Alora’s shoulder as he avoided Tafel’s eyes. “Don’t you think the sun looks brighter than usual today?”
“Huh?” Alora finished chewing apart the bone in her hand and raised her head. She squinted at the sun. “Eh, nope. It’s about as blinding as usual.”
Tafel sighed. “Fine, whatever.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Alice. “Either way, you’re not allowed to leave. How about this? We’ll go to the empress and investigate her. If I’m right, and she’s actually a nice person who was forced into a bad situation, then you’ll admit your wrongs and apologize to me while swearing to never leave the party.”
“And if I’m right, and the empress is actually a tyrant who exploits her people, then…, then … I’m not sure what I want from you exactly,” Alice said, her brow wrinkling. “Just having you apologize won’t be enough.” She nodded. “Alright, if I win, then you’ll make me the party leader and respect all of my decisions. Is that fair?”
“You can place any condition you want,” Tafel said, “but it won’t matter because I’m not going to lose.”
“So, I take it you agree?”
Tafel nodded. “Of course.”
Vur scratched his nose. “But wasn’t I the leader?”
Tafel raised an eyebrow before lifting her head. “Mm, I think the sun is a bit brighter than usual.” She lowered her head and placed a steak onto Vur’s plate before he could respond. “Here, eat your food.”