“Hey, Ivy,” Chelsea whispered.
The elf was asleep beneath the shade tree, curled slightly on her side with one arm tucked under her head. She must have drifted off while waiting for Chelsea and Adriane to finish talking. Wildflowers swayed around her in the breeze, brushing against her sleeves and catching in her blonde hair.
Chelsea crouched beside her and gently shook her shoulder.
“Hm?” Ivy mumbled, barely opening her eyes. “Chelsea?”
“Yeah, it’s me. We’re heading back to the Merchant’s Guild. My contact sent a messenger.”
“Okay,” Ivy said through a yawn. “Sounds good.”
Then she settled right back down as if that answered everything.
Chelsea looked over her shoulder at Adriane and smiled. “She’s so cute when she’s sleeping.”
A small smile appeared on Ivy’s lips, though her eyes remained closed.
Adriane folded her arms. “Why don’t you try one of those javelins? I’m curious to see how it affects her.”
Ivy was upright almost instantly.
“Hey, Adriane,” she said quickly, brushing hair out of her face while getting to her feet. “I didn’t realize you were there.” Her gaze shifted between the two of them, lingering on Chelsea just long enough for concern to soften her expression. “Did you two have a good talk?”
“We did,” Adriane said.
Chelsea nodded, and there must have been something in her face that reassured Ivy because the elf relaxed a little.
“Good,” Ivy quietly replied.
“Come on,” Chelsea said, turning toward the manor. “We should get going.”
She started walking at a brisk pace toward the Merchant’s Guild. She set off at such an eager stride that Adriane and Ivy had to work to keep up with her. Part of it was excitement. Part of it was nerves. Chelsea desperately needed to know just how absurd this offer was going to become.
The Merchant’s Guild was busy when they arrived, though not nearly as loud as the Adventurer’s Guild. The atmosphere was more restrained. Quills scratched against ledgers, clerks spoke in polite voices, and people in fine clothing sat in small clusters pretending they weren’t trying to listen to everyone else’s business.
The front desk clerk looked up and immediately smiled.
“Miss Wixx, welcome back. Same room as before. Mr. Ellersby seems very eager to speak with you.” He leaned slightly closer as she passed. “Very eager.”
Chelsea liked hearing that.
She glanced back at Adriane and Ivy. “You two stay here.”
“Okay,” Ivy replied, a little louder than necessary, as if trying to prove she was fully awake now.
Chelsea gave her a fond look before heading down the hall. She took a quiet breath outside the door to room four, smoothed the front of her outfit, and gently pushed it open.
Mr. Ellersby was already waiting for her.
“Miss Wixx,” the old fairy said, rising from his chair with visible excitement. “That was fast.” His smile widened. “Please, have a seat. I spoke to my contacts, and I found a single bidder interested in purchasing the entire lot.”
“Okay,” Chelsea said firmly. “Before anything else happens, we need to talk.”
They stood on the street outside the bank as dusk settled over Junstruce. The merchant district had begun to quiet around them, lanterns glowing to life one by one while the last carts of the day rattled over the stone road. The bank itself looked almost golden in the evening light, which felt appropriate considering what they were about to do.
Ivy stood beside Chelsea, looking between her and Adriane with growing curiosity.
“Ivy,” Chelsea said, turning to her first, “you’re about to hear some confusing things. You will definitely have questions. I promise I will explain later.”
Ivy nodded without arguing, though her eyes flicked toward Adriane with concern.
Chelsea took a breath and faced Adriane.
“Call this an early or late Mother’s Day gift. Assuming that’s even a thing in this world.”
Adriane gave her a confused little smile. “Mother’s Day?”
“Earth thing. Not important right this second.” Chelsea reached out and took one of Adriane’s hands. “Do you remember that feeling you had earlier? When I told you the guild would offer one hundred fifteen gold per scale?”
Adriane’s smile shifted slightly, the confusion giving way to interest. “Yes. And the suspense is killing me. How much did you get?”
Chelsea held her gaze.
“I had the Merchant’s Guild find us a direct buyer.”
Adriane nodded slowly.
“They paid seven thousand gold per scale.”
For a moment, Adriane did not react.
Ivy, however, made a small sound beside them.
Chelsea continued before either of them could interrupt. “Fourteen hundred scales at seven thousand each. That’s nine point eight million gold.”
The words seemed to hit Adriane one piece at a time.
Nine point eight million.
Chelsea squeezed her hand. “My gift is that we are going to erase Jared’s name from our lives together. Officially. Completely. Right now.” Her own voice tightened, but she forced herself to keep speaking. “We are going to walk into this bank, pay off that loan in full, and make sure his existence is forgotten to us. Well… there’s Dewey. But to us. He’s no more.”
Adriane stood completely still. Her face did not change at first. Then her lip began to tremble.
Chelsea stepped in immediately and pulled Adriane’s head down against her chest. Adriane went with her, folding forward as though something inside her had finally given way. She did not sob loudly. She barely made a sound at all, which somehow hurt worse. Chelsea held her as tightly as she could.
“Hey now,” Chelsea whispered. “We can fall apart later. Right now, we have a job to do.”
Adriane drew in a shaky breath and nodded against her.
Chelsea rubbed one hand over her back once before gently pulling away. Adriane’s face was wet, and her whole body trembled in a way Chelsea had never seen before. The Silver Sword had stood in front of monsters without fear, had killed greater dragons, had carried the weight of her family for years. But standing outside the bank, with freedom finally close enough to touch, she looked almost afraid to believe in it.
Chelsea’s own eyes burned. “Take a deep breath,” she said softly. “Walk in there. Tell the man your name and what you’re here to do. You’ve got this.”
Adriane closed her eyes and did as instructed. She breathed in slowly, held it for a moment, and let it out. When she opened her eyes again, she was not fully steady, but she was standing.
Chelsea did not let go of her hand. The three of them entered the bank together.
The usual greeter looked up immediately. “Miss Wixx, hello.” His attention went first to Chelsea, as it always seemed to now.
Chelsea shook her head and gestured toward Adriane.
Adriane swallowed once.
“My name is Adriane Wixx,” she said. Her voice wavered, but it did not break. “I would like to pay off my loan, please.”
The greeter’s polite expression shifted as he understood who she was.
Then he bowed.
“Of course, Miss Adriane Wixx. Right this way.”
“Any idea what this is about?” Bea asked Dewey, eyeing Chelsea from across the room.
Chelsea had pulled her chair close enough to Ivy that their shoulders nearly touched. She still had not explained everything that had happened. Not to Ivy, Dewey, Bea, and certainly not to Fiona. There had been too much in one day. Dragons, treasure, millions of gold, the bank, Adriane’s confession, and now this family meeting.
A lot of confusion was about to be cleared up.
“No,” Dewey said. “Little Sister Chelsea, do you know why Adriane called us all in here?”
Chelsea’s eyes immediately teared.
Little Sister Chelsea. That was probably the last time he would call her that.
She shrugged, not trusting herself to answer.
Bea narrowed her eyes. “You know something.”
“I’m not saying a word until Adriane gets here.” Chelsea replied after taking a second.
“You’re always up to something now,” Bea said. “It’s annoying.”
Chelsea gave her a look. “I learned from you.”
“No, you learned from Adriane. I’m the fun sister.”
Bea turned her attention to Ivy. “Elf. You know something. You’re always around them.”
Ivy looked deeply uncomfortable being targeted. “They said some things that didn’t make sense to me. It’s probably better to hear it from them.”
“Coward.”
Chelsea leaned forward slightly. “Let’s all stay calm, Bea. You don’t want to sleep through the meeting.”
Her eyes flicked toward Edgar.
Bea’s expression darkened instantly. “We had a long talk. He won’t be doing that again.”
“As long as she tries her best to hold her tongue,” Edgar added politely.
Fiona, who had been sitting quietly with Dewey, looked toward Chelsea. “Have you heard anything from the other Valkyr yet?”
Chelsea shook her head. “Nothing yet. You and Dewey will be the first I tell.”
That seemed to satisfy Fiona, though she still looked like she wanted to ask several more valkyr questions.
The door opened before she could and Adriane stepped inside.
The room quieted immediately. Even Bea sat back a little, though she tried very hard to make it look like she hadn’t.
Chelsea reached for Ivy’s hand under the table and held it. Ivy squeezed once.
“Adriane,” Bea said, sitting forward again. “What’s happening? Why did you call us here?”
Adriane paused near the head of the table. “It would seem,” Adriane began slowly, “there was a bit of a mix-up when Chelsea was brought into the Wixx family.”
Dewey and Bea both looked at Chelsea.
Chelsea lifted one hand awkwardly.
“How?” Dewey asked.
Adriane took a breath. “When I adopted Chelsea as a Wixx, she was so excited about us being sisters that I let her believe that was what happened. I didn’t correct her, even though my original intention was for her to be adopted as my daughter.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Bea’s mouth fell open.
“I’m sorry,” Bea said. “Daughter? As in not my sister?”
Adriane nodded.
Bea looked from Adriane to Chelsea and back again. Her expression shifted several times before landing on sudden understanding.
“Oh,” she said. “That makes way too much sense.”
Chelsea felt her face warming.
“That’s why you baby her so much,” Bea continued, pointing at Adriane. “Always fawning over her and running over anytime she scrapes her knee.”
“I do not fawn,” Adriane said.
Dewey looked thoughtful. “You do go crazy when she’s hurt. Fiona said you shredded that last boss of the laby…”
Adriane continued before they could derail completely, interrupting Dewey. “We have decided to make that relationship official going forward. Not much has to change in practice, but Chelsea is not your little sister. She is my daughter. Which makes her your niece.”
Dewey’s face slowly brightened.
“Littlest Niece Chelsea.”
Chelsea’s eyes stung again despite herself, but she managed a smile. “Technically, I’m your biggest niece too.”
Dewey considered that. “Biggest and littlest niece Chelsea.” He made an unimpressed face.
“I will accept this title.”
“I guess that makes me your fun aunt Bea now, huh?”
Adriane allowed the moment to settle before moving on. “Next, as you know, I took Chelsea and Ivy on my S-rank mission to slay another greater dragon.”
“Oh yeah,” Bea said, immediately perking up. “How much did the guild pay for it?”
Adriane turned to Chelsea.
“One hundred seventy-five thousand,” Chelsea answered.
Bea whistled.
Fiona, on the other hand, slowly sat forward. “You killed a greater dragon?”
“Adriane killed it,” Chelsea said. “I helped wake it up.”
Ivy added. “We both got titles.”
Fiona looked between them. “You got titles for killing a greater dragon?”
Ivy smiled, trying and failing to look casual. “Greater Dragon Slayer.”
Dewey’s eyes shone with pride. “A worthy title.”
Adriane gave Chelsea a look before continuing. “Well, your niece did what she does and made me feel stupid again.”
Bea leaned forward eagerly. “Did she figure out greater dragons shit gold or something?”
That got a laugh from most of the table.
“No,” Adriane said with a sigh. “No, she did not. She showed me something else.”
Chelsea reached into her bag, pulled out one of the ivory dragon scales, and laid it on the table. The thing was wide enough to serve dinner on.
“This is one scale from the dragon we killed today,” Adriane explained. “The Adventurer’s Guild would have paid one hundred and fifteen gold for it.”
“Holy shit,” Bea said, staring at it. “Why do we still have it? Sell it.”
Several people around the table nodded as if that was the obvious answer.
“Because your niece is not as simple-minded as the rest of us,” Adriane said. “Chelsea asked Willow to provide proof that we are required to sell recovered materials exclusively to the Adventurer’s Guild. There is no proof. It is not a rule. It is a rumor that benefits the guild.”
Bea’s expression sharpened.
Chelsea could practically see the anger moving through the room.
“She then went to the Merchant’s Guild,” Adriane continued, “and found a direct buyer. The offer was seven thousand gold per scale.”
The room erupted.
Bea swore. Fiona stared at the scale like it had become an entirely different object. Dewey leaned closer with wide eyes, and Edgar’s polite stillness somehow became even more attentive.
“Sell it?” Fiona asked, as if suspicious that there was still another layer to this.
“She already did,” Adriane said. “One thousand four hundred of them.”
Bea slowly turned toward Chelsea.
Chelsea smiled.
“How much was it after fees, again?” Adriane asked.
“About nine and a half million gold for the scales alone.”
The silence that followed was one of the most satisfying things Chelsea had ever heard.
“We paid off the loan today in full,” Adriane said quietly. “After everything, we still have about five million gold left.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Bea leaned back in her chair and let out a breath.
“So she really did make us disgustingly rich.”
Adriane looked at Chelsea.
For a moment, the room lost some of its noise again.
“She did.”
Chelsea suddenly felt too many eyes on her and immediately decided that was enough sincerity for one sitting.
“Oh, hey Bea,” she said, reaching into the air. “I wanted to show you something cool. Hold out your hand.”
Bea’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Because it’s cool.”
Bea, clearly unwilling to look afraid in front of everyone, held out her hand.
Chelsea summoned a spectral javelin.
Bea immediately pulled her hand back.
“Oh, don’t be a baby,” Chelsea said. “You can heal anything I do, right?”
Bea stared at the blue weapon.
Chelsea held it lightly, keeping the point angled down and away. “Just watch.”
After a moment, Bea extended her hand again, though much more cautiously this time.
Chelsea took it gently.
“Remember that time you almost tortured me when we first met?”
Bea’s face went flat.
“Boop.”
Chelsea tapped the tip of the javelin against Bea’s palm.
Bea ripped her hand back with a sharp inhale through her teeth. Her face twisted as she tried, and very clearly failed, to heal away whatever the soul weapon had done.
Chelsea was already standing. “If anyone needs us, we’ll be in our room.”
She grabbed Ivy’s hand and headed for the door before Bea recovered enough to retaliate.
As they fled, Chelsea called back over her shoulder, “Love you, Aunt Bea.”
The last thing she heard before the door closed was Bea’s furious voice echoing through the room.
“I hate this family.”