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Ria smiled to herself as Zara led her to sit in the spacious living room while Asterion and Hektor disappeared toward the kitchen.
“I love your house,” Ria admitted, turning in a circle. “It feels…” she searched for the right word. “…happy.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Zara laughed.
“You should.”
Ria looked around again. An Upperworld speaker sat beneath a hand-carved shelf, and framed family photographs had been tucked in among woven tapestries and old pottery. None of it should have matched, but somehow it worked.
“It’s definitely become more…interesting since Hektor discovered the Upperworld.”
“Oh?”
“He has hobbies now.” Zara folded her legs beneath her on the couch, an amused smile already tugging at her lips.
Ria settled into the armchair across from her. “Hobbies?”
“Oh, yes. Coffee. Board games. Reality cooking competitions,” Zara counted them off on her fingers.
Ria blinked. “I’m sorry…what?”
“And karaoke.”
“Karaoke?”
“Especially karaoke,” Zara groaned.
Ria laughed. “I did not expect that.”
“Neither did I.”
“So…” Ria leaned forward, unable to hide her curiosity. “How exactly did Hektor manage to find a karaoke machine in Vale Crossing?”
“He didn’t.”
“No?”
Zara shook her head. “We brought one back from the Upperworld a few weeks ago.”
Ria’s eyebrows rose. “You brought back a karaoke machine?”
“Among other things.”
“I have so many questions.”
“You and everyone else.”
Ria laughed as Zara settled back against the couch.
“I escaped to the Upperworld for a few days,” Zara began. “Things between us were…a little rocky.”
“Oh?”
“So, I left.”
“And Hektor?”
“He followed me.”
