Delysia glanced around Tarlak to look at Aurelia.

“Is that fine with you?” she asked.

The elf shrugged. “Better than rooming with these two lugs.”

“Excellent,” she said, still smiling. “Follow me upstairs. We’ll make room for you while Tarlak gives the boys the rest of the tour.”

“You’re gonna leave us?” Harruq asked as Aurelia stepped around a frowning Tarlak.

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine,” she replied.

“I would prefer she stay with me, sis,” Tarlak said. A tiny pout crossed his face.

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother,” Aurelia said, locking her arm in Delysia’s, a huge grin on her face. The priestess laughed and batted her eyelashes at her brother.

“Bye-bye, Oh Great and Wise Eschaton!”

The two dashed up the stairs, leaving an unhappy Tarlak and Harruq watching after them. Qurrah, amused by the whole ordeal, could not keep silent.

“So who exactly is in charge here, the women or the men?”

“The women, just like everywhere else in the civilized world,” Tarlak sighed. “Oh well. Let’s get on with it.”

They followed him up the stairs, which slowly curled about the wall. Tarlak stopped on the first floor, which appeared to be nothing more than a wall and a door less than two feet from the stairs.

“I added walls and doors to give every room some privacy,” he explained. “This is my sister’s, and now your elf girl’s, room. Don’t expect to be inside there much.”

“Same goes for you, I would say,” Qurrah said.

“Quiet you!” Tarlak said, although his voice hardly carried any conviction. “Let’s go to a more interesting floor, shall we?”

The second floor’s door was wide open. When they peered inside, they saw a mess of a place, with pieces of armor littering the floor. Buried underneath a particular deep pile was what appeared to be a bed. Various weapons, axes, swords, and daggers lined the walls. In front of a large grinding wheel in the corner, grumbling to himself, sat Brug.