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Two bright eyes sparkled. “Who cares? I don’t.”

“We’ve had our moments,” said Darady, coming up to Maelin’s side. “But I will say Inky’s been supportive and a real help, my Lady. There’s been times...”

“Oh not now, Darry,” huffed Inkytink, folding her tentacles in front of her and giving Darady a firm look. “Let the girl settle. She’s got enough ahead of her without hearing about our ups and downs.”

Maelin looked at them both, her companion Darady, and her tickerkin, Inkytink the octopus. Her friends. And perhaps the only two she could trust at this point. Her time at Tidehold had taught her many things, amongst which had been the knowledge that not everyone wanted the best for others.

“It’s so good to see you,” she smiled, sitting down on her bed. “Now I truly feel as if I’m home. And yes, I want to hear about all your adventures.”

“But not all at once,” chuckled Darady. “Tea first.”

A sound outside alerted Inkytink and she rolled quickly to the door, opening it, taking the tray from the maid, and closing it again, demonstrating once again that having eight usable arms was a decided improvement over the normal two.

“Do you remember how to braid my hair?” asked Maelin. “Nobody, and I mean nobody, ever did a better job.”

Inky set the tray on a side table. “Of course I do. And now, I can even braid some fancy dangles into it as well. Sort of thing that looks good when you’re at a ball, you know?”

Rising to pour herself a cup of tea, Maelin shook her head. “I doubt there’ll be many balls for me at the moment. I have to settle in. Find out where things stand. I have a lot to catch up on.” She glanced at Darady. “And now I have a new aunt. Which is a surprise.”

“It was a surprise to all of us too, my Lady.” Darady put a couple of delicate tinker-twists on a small plate and passed it to Maelin. “His Lordship went off on a visit for a couple of weeks and when he came back? She was with him. Married. Two days’ notice was all we got. Get her rooms ready for her and then she’s settling herself in like she’d lived here for years.”

“Thought she’d inherited the house instead of marrying into it.” Inky’s tentacles curled in disgust. “Wanted me to do all sorts of nonsense better left to her own tickerkin.”

“Like what?” Maelin frowned, then paused to sigh with pleasure as she bit into a crisp tinker-twist. “I missed these,” she muttered. “But go on...what did the new Lady Theryn want from you?”

“Almost everything,” said Darady. “But she didn’t get it.”

“Treated me like the lowest servant,” grunted Inky. “Do this, do that, why isn’t that done, and where can I get another one of you. She thought if she could get me to do all she wanted, and add a few more like me, then she could dispense with most of the servants.”

“But why? That makes no sense.”

“Money,” sighed Darady. “She thought she could save a lot by not having to pay humans.”

“Hmph.” Maelin grunted. “I presume you set her straight and corrected her misconceptions?”

“Between the two of us, we managed.” Darady glanced at Inky. “It turned out that there were an awful lot of tasks that Inky couldn’t quite manage to do.”

“I’m all...tentacles, you see? Quite clumsy sometimes. I have been known to knock over an expensive vial of perfume, and goodness...I had an unfortunate incident with some face powder, just before she was about to leave for a party.”

Darady bit back a grin. “Well, powder is the most difficult stuff to clean up, especially when it falls into black velvet boots...and Inky has no way of solving that problem. So...”

“It was back to humans, was it?” Maelin enjoyed the story enormously.

“Let’s just say she re-thought her situation.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Darady put down her cup and saucer. “Your Uncle will be thrilled to see you, I’m sure, my Lady. But it pains me to say that your new aunt may not be overwhelmed at the arrival of a beautiful niece. She’s more likely to look at you as a potential financial asset.”

Maelin’s eyebrow shot up. “Me?”

“Dear girl,” Inky touched her hand. “You are quite lovely, you know. You’re intelligent, Crownborne, and newly-returned from Tidehold after training as a novice Warden. In Caelemar, you are an extraordinary catch.”

Maelin stilled as the implications of Inky’s statement sank in. “She’d use me as a money-maker. Match me to some wealthy title, and then sit back and enjoy the financial settlements.”

Neither Darady nor Inky answered. They didn’t need to.

Which was enough for Maelin. “Well, let me make one thing perfectly clear, my friends. I will not be the sacrificial lamb for my new aunt’s financial plans. I have no intention of marrying, at least not for many years yet, if ever. I want to explore my own goals without interference.” She stood and brushed a few crumbs off her skirt. “So she’d better get used to that as quickly as possible.”