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Rook,
I thank you for your letter, although I deeply regret its necessity. Scout Harding was dear to us in the Inquisition, and I in particular will miss her deeply. I will rest happy in the knowledge that you and Professor Volkarin have taken over the care of the gift I had sent her. I hope that Pebble is settling in well to her new home in Nevarra, although I confess that I wish I could be there to witness the reactions to her presence around the Grand Necropolis.
With admiration,
Divine Victoria
***
Rook folded up the letter and handed it to Emmrich with a sad smile. He read it quietly, then sighed.
She leaned back against him, closing her eyes. “I miss her, Em.”
Emmrich kissed her on the top of her head. “I miss her as well, dearest.”
Just then, a loud clatter came from the other room, followed quickly by much hissing. The two exchanged a look, then stood up from their sofa and went to see what the noise was. When they got in the kitchen, Manfred was standing over the broken remains of a plate, holding a broom. There were nuts and pieces of cheese scattered around the floor.
“What happened, Manfred?” Rook asked as she went to grab a dustpan.
“Nug broke,” Manfred said in his hissing voice.
Emmrich raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
Rook looked at the nug, who was curled up on her cushion in the corner of the kitchen and seemed to be asleep. “How exactly did the nug break the plate?”
Manfred shrugged. “Dunno.”
Rook laughed and clapped a hand to Emmrich’s back, then handed him the dustpan. “I’ll let you handle this one.”
Emmrich was rubbing his temples, and gave Rook a thin smile. “All right, darling.” He then turned his attention to Manfred. “I have spoken to you before about telling falsehoods, Manfred…”
Rook left the room, allowing Emmrich to deal with the skeleton. She knew the necromancer preferred to handle such matters himself. Instead, she went back to the sitting room, took her tea, and went out on the balcony.
The apartment had an excellent view of the Necropolis. It was probably why Emmrich had chosen it in the first place, Rook thought. She knew it was a big step for the professor to move out of his rooms in the Necropolis itself, but the apartment in Nevarra was more suited to their little family: Emmrich, Rook, and Manfred.
A small squeaking sound came from near her ankles, and she turned to look. Pebble was nuzzling at her leg, as if to remind the elf of her presence. She bent down and picked the nug up, cradling her in her arm. “As if I could forget you, Pebs.” She pressed a kiss to the nug’s back, and then sank down onto the bench.
They sat there like that for a few moments, the nug curled in her lap while she sipped her tea. Pebble had gotten bigger in the months since she had arrived at the Lighthouse, but she was still a comfortable size for Rook’s lap.
Emmrich walked out onto the balcony, settling down next to Rook and looking expectantly at Manfred.
The skeleton hung his head. “Sorry, Rook. Sorry, Nug. Nug not break plate.”
Emmrich cleared his throat. Nodding, the skeleton tried again. “Nug did not break plate. Manfred broke plate.”
“It’s all right, Manfred,” Rook said with a smile. “I’m sure Pebble forgives you, too.”
In answer, Pebble stood up on her back legs and squeaked, sniffing at the air.
***
The group made quite a picture as they walked through the Necropolis: The tall professor, hand in hand with the more petite elf, her gold hair piled neatly on top of her head in an elaborate twist. The skeleton at her side, his purple coat almost shimmering in the faintly green light of the Necropolis. The nug, secured by a leash that ran from a pink and gold collar to a loop of leather around the skeleton’s bony wrist.
“GREETINGS”, Vorgoth said in their booming voice.
“Professor Volkarin, Miss Mercar. It is lovely to see you today,” Myrna said sweetly. “Are you settling in well in your new home?”
Rook smiled. “Oh yes, thank you. It's a lot nicer than my old place in Minrathous, and Nevarra is beautiful.”
“I’m glad you are finding the city so agreeable.” Myrna turned her gaze to Emmrich. “Are you here on business?”
Emmrich and Rook exchanged a look, and then the man spoke. “Tynna and I were hoping to spend some time in the Memorial Gardens today. Vorgoth has agreed to look after our charges for a few hours.”
The female watcher smiled warmly and nodded, while Vorgoth stepped closer to Manfred. “I WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM.”
Rook looked nervously at Emmrich, but he smiled reassuringly at her. “Don’t worry, dearest. Vorgoth will look after them.”
“I know you were only expecting Manfred, but he wouldn’t leave without Pebble.”
“Nug see Necpolis,” Manfred said with conviction.
“Necropolis,” Emmrich corrected patiently.
“Nec-ro-pol-is.”
Emmrich nodded his approval. “We will be off, then. Manfred, please mind Watcher Vorgoth.”
“COME,” Vorgoth instructed. “I HAVE NEW BOOKS.”
Manfred waved goodbye to Rook and Emmrich, and turned to follow the mysterious Watcher. Pebble trotted dutifully behind, her frequent squeaks earning the attention of several of the Necropolis’s occupants.
The door to Vorgoth’s office swung open on its own as they approached, and closed after them after they had entered. The beautiful landscape paintings on the walls added a charm to the large office, tucked as they were between tall bookshelves. Two boxes sat in front of one of the shelves, and Vorgoth pointed to it.
“I SAVED THEM FOR YOU,” Vorgoth told Manfred. Manfred clapped and hissed happily. “GIVE ME YOUR PET.”
Manfred slipped the leather strap over his glove and handed it to the Watcher, then began sorting and organizing the new books.
Vorgoth picked the nug up and placed her on the desk. He sat down in the chair, petting her with a gloved hand.
***
When Emmrich and Rook came back a few hours later, the nug was curled up, snoring, in the middle of Vorgoth’s desk, and Vorgoth was pointing to one of their paintings. “THE WARM COLORS EVOKE FEELINGS OF COMFORT.”
“Pretty Tree!” Manfred responded, happily.
“YES. THE TREE IS ALSO PRETTY.”
“I trust Manfred and Pebble were no trouble, Watcher Vorgoth?” Emmrich looked appraisingly at his ward.
“THEIR BEHAVIOR WAS EXEMPLARY.”
“I am ever so glad to hear that,” Emmrich said with relief.
Vorgoth picked Pebble up, handing her to Rook. Rook’s eyes were red-rimmed and watery. “HOW WAS YOUR TIME IN THE GARDENS?”
“It was wonderful,” Rook said, before bursting into tears again. Emmrich smiled lovingly at her and handed her a crisply ironed handkerchief from his pocket. She took it, and dabbed at her eyes. A shiny ring sat on her finger, a deep purple jewel on a gold band.
***
“What do you think they want to tell us?” Bellara was bouncing in excitement.
Taash shrugged. “I dunno. They called us all back here. Must be pretty important.”
While none of the team still lived in the Lighthouse, they all used it as a sort of meeting place. It wasn’t unusual to find Neve in her office or Bellara in her workshop any given day, but the rest were more infrequent visitors. Messengers had brought them all invitations to the Lighthouse on that day. Everyone was around the table in the dining room, waiting for Emmrich and Rook to arrive.
“It’s not like Emmrich to be late,” Neve said with a tinge of worry in her voice.
“Perhaps he is going for the dramatic entrance?” Lucanis guessed, grinning. He moved closer to Neve, putting a reassuring hand on the small of her back.
“I just hope it’s not more gods,” Davrin piped up. Everyone groaned. “Had more than enough of them.”
Bellara reached into her bag and pulled out the card she had been given. “This is pretty fancy paper to use to get us here just to fight something,” she mused. “Wouldn’t they have just, you know, sent a normal message?”
Taash narrowed their eyes suspiciously. “I dunno. Emmrich’s pretty fancy.”
“Shh!” Neve said quickly. Everyone froze and looked at the door as it opened. Manfred came first, Pebble trailing behind him on the leash. He had a bunch of flowers in a basket. He went around the table, handing one to each person. Neve smiled, as bewildered as the rest of the group. “Thank you, Manfred, but what is this about?”
“Surprise!” Manfred said happily. “Don’t tell. Surprise.”
Emmrich and Rook walked in, Rook hanging on to Emmrich’s arm. She was wearing a simple blue dress instead of her usual armor. Retirement was treating her well, it seemed.
Taash looked confused for a second, then gave a knowing smirk. Rook fixed her gaze on them, and Taash nodded once. “Relax, everyone,” they announced. “No fight.”
Everyone relaxed in their chairs, looking at Rook and Emmrich expectantly.
“I am thrilled you were all able to join us today,” Emmrich began.
Rook smiled. “Yes, we have something we want to talk to you all about. You’ve been our best and closest friends. We saved the world together, after all,” she said, laughing.
“What is it, Rook?” Lucanis asked. Emmrich looked to Rook, who nodded.
Emmrich wrapped his arm around the elf. “My dearest Tynna has agreed to become my wife,” he explained. “There is no one we would rather celebrate our engagement with than all of you.”
Bellara was bouncing up and down in her chair, vibrating with excitement. “We have so much planning to do!” she screeched.
Rook laughed. “We will handle planning later! For now, I just want to be here with all of you.”
“The cake, Manfred, if you please?” Emmrich asked his ward. Manfred got up and walked out of the room. He came back a moment later, pushing a cart with a cake on the top and several bottles of wine on the lower shelf.
The cake was lopsided, iced with pale blue icing, and read ‘Hooray Familee’ in a shaky hand. “Manfred made the cake,” Emmrich explained. “He didn’t quite understand what to write, I’m afraid,” he said with a loving glance to the skeleton.
“I think he got it exactly right,” Rook said, stretching up to kiss Emmrich on the cheek.
As Manfred cut the cake and put slices on plates, Rook distributed them to their friends. “Here you are, Taash,” she said as she handed a plate to the dragon hunter.
Taash inhaled sharply. “What?” Their voice dropped to a whisper. “Does Emmrich know?”
Rook’s eyes widened in alarm. “You can smell….?” She trailed off, incredulous, her hand moving self-consciously to her belly. She took a breath and composed herself. “No. He doesn’t know. I wasn’t sure myself until just now.” Rook felt her face growing warm. She looked at Emmrich and Manfred, the man helping the skeleton with the last of the cake, and smiled.