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She shook her head but heard someone say, “Oh, you’ll want a beer. It’s award-winning for a reason.”

The satyr slid onto the stool next to her. “Unless, of course, you don’t partake in alcohol. Then I would suggest tea. It’s sweet enough to give you a high but immaculately brewed.”

She smiled and turned to the orc. “I’ll take a beer, whatever you suggest.”

The orc nodded, going to get her order. The satyr held out a hand. “I’m Silenus.”

She took it and shook his hand, switching to Old Salian. “I’m Avenay.”

His brows shot up and his face split into a grin as he switched to match her. “By The Mother, I haven’t spoken to anyone in Salian for ages. Where are you from? The Light Realm?”

Avenay could hear the difference in his pronunciation versus hers and her mind automatically shifted to form her words differently, sticking her tongue on the front of her teeth for the S sounds more than the roof of her mouth as she had before. “I am. Lesern, specifically. I’m a language expert at the university.”

“Ahh. That explains it. I’m assuming you’re heading this way for the summit in Elf Glen?”

“I was supposed to be there tonight, but I got blown off course and ended up here.”

“That was by design of the winds of fate, as my mother would say. Nothing happens by chance. Perhaps it’s the Mother giving me a bit of home in this conversation.”

The orc set the beer in front of her with a basket of bread and she held up her drink to Silenus. “I like that. Cheers to fate.”

“Cheers to fate, fables, and new friends,” he said, taking a long drink, then standing again. “It was nice meeting you, Avenay. I have to get back to playing or the patrons will become rowdy in a feeble attempt to create their own entertainment.”

She chuckled and waved as he walked back to the dais. Pulling outThe Tales of Lemiawith a notepad and quill, she opened it to the last place she’d been, carefully stealing glances around the room.

No demon in sight. There were many different kinds of beings here, though. Lesern always had a decent variety, since it was a top university, but this was so much more. Orcs and goblins, satyrs and nymphs, humans and elves. There was even another seraph in the corner with a group of travelers, all wearing leather armor and weapons, most likely mercenaries. Which was something Avenay hadn’t ever seen before, either. Lesern was not the place to attract swords for hire at the local watering hole. They surely existed, but more in the shadows.

Different deals seemed to be going down in the room, gambling in the corner, and an assortment of patrons of all kinds. She felt out of place, but no one noticed, and she found herself jotting down notes in her notebook. Was this what she’d been missing by not traveling more?

Maybe Seraphina had been right. She had been so focused on her illness that she’d never really lived.

A loud voice rose above the others, laughing and joking. Avenay looked up as Enid and her brothers walked in. She straightened on the stool as the bartender brought her food up and she tried desperately to focus on it, even as her eyes kept stealing glances at the demon.

A feverish flush stole over her cheeks and down her neck. Gods, but Enid was a sight to behold.

Avenay had maybe, just a tiny bit, been obsessed with demon history and lore for a few years after meeting Enid and knew a bit too much about them.

Like the fact that they were a warrior culture, and that’s why Enid was strapped with an array of weapons. The fact that Enid had so many weapons was a sign of her warrior prowess. Each would have been awarded not just from mastery of the weapon, but also from placing in the top ten at their annual war games. She had dual swords on her back and a quiver, daggers across her chest and a curved sword around her hip. She wore the crest of a flight leader on her chest, which meant she was a fast flier and could perform tricky maneuvers.

By the gods, how many times had she placed in the war games? Avenay wanted to study her, to draw out every story and tale from her.

Enid didn’t notice her as they walked to the center of the bar. Avenay averted her eyes, keeping them trained on the pages in front of her. Something in her seemed to pull and tighten, like someone grasping her chin and forcefully yanking her attention back to Enid. But she clasped her hands on the table and resisted. She needed to keep her wits. She wasn’t some silly schoolgirl swooning over a childhood crush, for the gods’ sake.

Avenay shimmied, settling her ruffled feathers, and continued perusing the text, stopping only to take a few bites. She glanced at the demons, unable to keep her attention away for too long. They were having a great time, grabbing beers, then going to the corner to play a loud game of darts, with other patrons getting involved.

The demons were now taking shots with some elven warriors. Avenay liked social situations if she could observe. She enjoyed seeing the easy way others interacted, as if there was some underlying language happening at lightning fast speeds, no speech needed, just a look here, a shift of the body there.

She continued writing her observations down, trying to make sense of how the demons interacted with the world. Enid moved, turning her body towards the elfe next to her, leaning forward so her exposed cleavage was on display. She gazed intensely at the female, who grinned, looking down at the glass in her hand. Her eyes flitted up to Enid and Enid’s eyes dipped down and up, her hand reaching out to take the elfe’s, tilting it up. She traced lazy lines on the palm, saying something that was most certainly some bullshit about her future and it being with her. The elfe blushed, her eyes like moons as she gazed at the demon. Enid wasverygood at flirting.

The elfe turned to talk to her companions, and Dryston glared dully at Enid, who shrugged and grinned back. Avenay had the feeling that Enid was adept at stealing females from them. Enid dipped her head to a woman with blond hair at the end of the bar opposite Avenay, and Dryston leaned around to look.

And look.

And look.

He clearly liked what he saw. Enid punched him lightly on the shoulder and nodded, saying something to encourage him to speak to her.

Fascinating, all of it.