Book 2: Chapter 99 (1/2)

“Is this the place?” Tafel muttered to herself. “It should be, right? With all the guards and fancy buildings, this definitely has to be the palace.” She nodded and took a step forward, nudging Emile out of the way. He squawked and flapped his wings before glaring at Tafel.

Tafel rolled her eyes at him. “Didn’t I tell you to stop sitting on my feet?”

“But they’re comfy!” Emile said and jutted out his beak. Then he glanced around at the dwarves milling about. “Why are we here?”

“To see my husband,” Tafel said. She approached the gate of the palace, and two dwarven guards stepped forward to intercept her.

“Halt. State your business, stranger.”

“I’m here to see Vur,” Tafel said. “He told me he’d be waiting for me here.”

The guards frowned. “Vur? His Gloriousness?”

“His whatness?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“My brother-in-law sounds very narcissistic,” Emile whispered to Tafel, cupping his wing over his beak. He flew up onto her shoulder and preened himself. “He suits you.”

“How does a narcissist suit me!?” Tafel asked, her head turning towards Emile so fast that her hair whipped him across the chest. “What part of me matches a narcissist?”

Emile coughed and looked away. “Well, I mean, you spend so much time putting stuff on your face to try to look prettier,” he said. “If it’s not because you love looking at yourself, then why do you do it?”

Tafel pinched Emile’s wings and spread them apart as she held him up in front of herself. “What do you mean try, huh?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “And putting on makeup is a very normal thing to do. Almost all women do it!”

Emile tilted his head. “Almost all women are narcissists?”

“You’re coming to the wrong conclusions!” Tafel said with a snort. A ball of lava formed in the space between her and the baby phoenix. “You were much cuter when you used four-word sentences to communicate. Drink your lava like a good boy and reflect on your actions.”

Emile drank the lava while the two dwarven guards stared on with baffled expressions. One of the guards whispered to the other, “She really might be looking for His Gloriousness. Didn’t he say his wife might come visit? And isn’t she just as barbaric as he is?”

Tafel’s eye twitched. “If you’re going to gossip about someone, make sure she can’t hear you first.”

“Y-yes!” the dwarf said and saluted. “I’m also sorry to inform you, but His Gloriousness is currently not available. He went on a journey to find Zilphy, the leader of the wind elementals.”

Tafel furrowed her brow. “How about Lindyss?” she asked. “She was supposed to be here as well.”

“His Gloriousness’ aunt?” the dwarf asked and frowned. “I think I saw her leave yesterday as well. She was going to one of our dungeons with Erin.”

Tafel scratched her head. “Then they’re both not here? Do you have Zilphy’s location?” she asked. “Or Vur’s.”

“No,” the dwarf said. “Zilphy is difficult to track down, so His Gloriousness is searching all the likely places she’d be. It shouldn’t take long, maybe three weeks at most. Why not wait here for now?”

Tafel sighed. “How about Lindyss then? Do you know which dungeon she went to?”