With their camp set up, Viktora and Ara joined the remainder of the Scarlet Hands in digging graves. They managed to get all of the bodies buried before the sun went down, mostly thanks to Viktora's inhuman speed and strength, and marked each of the mounds with a rge stone, which Elnor and Shiloh sourced while the others were digging. Garth and his men spent the remainder of the twilight hours carving names into the stones.

  The two drakes following the Scarlet Hands went down as easily as Shiloh expected. One arrow for each of them, and they skidded to a halt right outside the camp. Unfortunately, getting them to go down after being cooked was far more difficult. Their meat was gamey and stringy, and stewing it didn't help at all.

  Nonetheless, the bandits wolfed the food down and each took second and third portions when offered. The young man with them was sniffling the entire time. Shiloh had to guess that his life had not gone in the direction he was expecting, and he'd been holding all these emotions in for far too long. Pride welled up in Shiloh as he watched Elnor go over to the crying youth and kneel down beside him. They exchanged whispered words briefly, and he flung himself around her neck, openly weeping. She shushed him and rubbed his back, looking close to tears herself as she offered him what comfort she could, knowing they were about to turn him over to the authorities.

  "Thank you." Garth rumbled when he'd finished eating. "I feel ashamed that I have not even asked this of you, but may I have your name?"

  Shiloh looked at him for a long time, silently judging the inclination he felt. Eventually, he decided to throw himself into the unknown once more. "Shiloh. Shiloh Sutton, the Cleric of Aphrodite."

  Garth's eyes widened, and a look of dawning comprehension spread across his features. "Ah. Well, we certainly had no business tangling with you, then, did we?" He gnced at the dozens of freshly-packed graves back in the trees, and Shiloh saw grief and remorse in his otherwise hardened eyes.

  "I am sorry." Shiloh whispered softly. "If we-"

  "Don't." Garth interrupted, holding up his hand. "You didn't have a chance to do anything other than what you did. Each of us are deserving of death according to the ws of the empire, and I'll not have you clouding your conscience with the fate of my men, who willingly entered into wlessness under my command. Their lives were forfeit the moment we attacked. I am grateful they didn't suffer much, and immeasurably thankful for the kindness you have shown us despite our actions."

  "It doesn't mean I like it." Shiloh grumbled.

  "No, I suppose you wouldn't." Garth agreed sagely. "You strike me as a lover, not a fighter. Not just because of your patron, but the way you handled everything from the moment I saw you. Tending to your allies before yourself. Healing your enemies even when you had no cause to. I am gd that your friends here are made of sterner stuff."

  Shiloh squawked in protest and Garth chuckled, holding up his hands. "No offense meant, Master Sutton. One of your disposition needs protection, though. If you got stabbed in the back, you'd smile and pull the bde in deeper. The others with you have fire in their bellies. They are prepared to kill to keep you safe, which they likely will need to do at some point. Avatars do not exist without enemies."

  "This one does." Shiloh insisted stubbornly.

  "No you don't." Ara snorted as she walked by, heading for the tent. "I know at least one orc who'd love nothing more than to take your head off."

  Shiloh's blood ran cold. Ara froze in her tracks, realizing what she'd just said, and hurried to Shiloh's side.

  "I am so sorry, Shy. I wasn't thinking. I should not have said that." She grabbed one of his hands in both of hers, sincerity shining out from her eyes.

  "It's okay." Shiloh reassured her, squeezing her hand. "Go on. I'll be there in just a minute."

  Looking back at Garth, Shiloh found the man with a knowing smirk pstered on his face. "I kind of figured you were with the elf." He commented.

  Shiloh blushed. "Well, I... it's..."

  Garth's eyes widened, and the smirk broadened into a grin. "Very impressive."

  "All of them." Shiloh blurted out. He panicked. Why the fuck would he say that? He wasn't trying to brag. He just didn't want people to think he preferred any of his girls over the others.

  Garth's grin turned into a ugh. "I've heard some jests in my life, but that one absolutely takes the cake. You've got all six of those beauties sharing you?"

  Very helpfully, Twil emerged from the tent at that moment. "Shiloh get in here. Beck has first watch but the rest of us are all waiting for you."

  Garth's mouth fell open in sck-jawed disbelief and Shiloh shrugged before heading back to the tent. As he neared, Ara leaned out of it topless.

  "We'll try to keep it down, but make no promises."

  "Get in here!" Elnor dragged the troublemaker back in and there was a loud cp of flesh on flesh. The men looked around stunned, then slowly started guffawing as Shiloh entered the tent.

  ***

  The next morning, they set out for Chattery. The trip was uneventful, though Shiloh and his allies had to defend the Scarlet Hands as they passed through the little unnamed vilge north of the city. The townsfolk were ready to form a lynch mob until Elnor fired one of her fme arrows into the sky. That little dispy got their attention and, more importantly, showed them that the part transporting the bandits was not to be fucked with.

  When they finally arrived in Chattery, they took the men straight to the jail, where they found the same scarred and gruff guard who had told them about Twil's trial when they came looking for her after the incident with Ashleigh. He stood up from his desk as they entered, and his eyes widened as he saw who they had in tow.

  "Are you aware that there was a standing order not to apprehend these men?" The guard growled, frowning at Shiloh.

  "I was not." Shiloh responded. Before he could continue, Garth stepped forward.

  "We broke the treaty first."

  This announcement left the guard stunned. He blinked several times, shook his head, and examined Garth closely, as if trying to figure out if Shiloh was forcing him to say that. Garth continued.

  "We were starving to death and attacked them to take whatever supplies they had. They fought us off, killed most of us, and took the seven of us captive. Master Sutton then healed and fed us, as well as guarding us against a mob of vilgers intent on hanging us all."

  The guard turned his piercing gaze on Shiloh. "Is that right?"

  "Yes." Shiloh replied evenly. "I would also like it noted that the lives of these men should be spared. Their actions against us were dictated by situations outside their control, and they have been model prisoners ever since surrendering."

  The man's expression became rather guarded. "That is outside your purview, Master Sutton." He replied carefully. "The crimes committed by the Scarlet Hands were not against you, but against the people of this realm and against the crown."

  "By the authority of Aphrodite, as her avatar, I must insist that these men not be harmed." Shiloh stated unequivocally.

  You could have heard a pin drop onto a pillow from across the room. Nobody even breathed. Eventually, the guard's brain restarted.

  "As you command, Master Sutton. I shall inform the Viceroy. I would like to point out, however, that he will likely summon you if you insist on issuing this order on your patron's authority." He gave a small bow.

  "I expect as much." Shiloh sighed. "I can't keep hiding from it, though."

  With that, they left the seven Hands in the charge of the city guards, and walked out of the building.

  "Well." Shiloh turned to his lovers, who looked almost as nervous as he felt about revealing his identity. "Where should we sleep? I seriously doubt any of the inns have a room big enough for all of us now."

  "We could sleep in the tent again." Ara shrugged. "Not like we aren't used to it at this point."

  "If you're going to expose your title, you might as well do it now." Elnor said with a sigh. "We can go to the pace and request an audience with Viceroy Chambers. He will send for us once it reaches his ears anyways and, this way, you are showing deference to him by telling him from your own mouth. It puts you in a better position. No matter what, though, he will likely insist on offering us room and board in the Pace."

  "Would we be expected to return the favor of housing us somehow?" Shiloh asked, warily.

  "No. He would not think to refuse us a pce to sleep and food to eat. If he didn't offer, it would reflect very poorly on him. However, you should be ready for other favors he asks of you. It is common practice for anyone in a position of political influence to request avatars help their citizens in various ways."

  "Of course we'll help out!" Shiloh said, aghast. "We couldn't let people in danger remain in danger."

  "You misunderstand me." Elnor expined calmly. "They will try to monopolize your time helping their own citizens in order to increase their standing among their citizens, other nobility, and the emperor. Someone who has the ear of an avatar is a very powerful person."

  "Oh. That could quickly become a problem." Shiloh murmured.

  "Especially with someone who has as much of a bleeding heart as you do." Beck commented, touching his shoulder lightly. "We love that about you, but we need to remember that we have a real quest from a real goddess that we are supposed to be tending to."

  Shiloh sighed. "I am going to rely on all of you to keep me on track. I know I would be running all over the world trying to fix everyone's lives if it were up to me."

  "We w-wouldn't have y-you any o-other w-way." Katerine said, smiling at him. He smiled back, and Elnor began leading them to the Pace.

  ***

  "I wasn't anticipating so much waiting." Shiloh murmured.

  They were seated on a long bench in an immacute hallway outside a set of rge, wooden doors trimmed with gold. The other side of the doors contained the throne room, which they had been brought to over an hour ago. They'd seen many messengers running back and forth since announcing themselves, but nobody stopped to speak with them. It was like they kicked an anthill, but the ants were terrified of them.

  Eventually, the doors cracked open and a page stepped into the hallway. "Aphrodite's Apostles?" The boy asked hesitantly, clearly nervous in the presence of such beautiful women.

  "That's us." Shiloh confirmed as they rose from the bench.

  They page nodded and ushered them into the throne room. Shiloh was immediately grateful for having taken the time to put on their nice clothes, as well as picking up a dress for Viktora. It didn't fit her well yet, but they were going to take it back to Heather when they were finished here. The reason he was gd for their formal wear was, he suspected, the same reason it had taken so long for them to be seen.

  Every person of any political influence was crammed into the throne room. They lined both sides of a royal purple carpet leading from the gold-trimmed doors to a small dais, which a somewhat modest, high-backed chair sat. Sitting on the chair was Viceroy Chambers. The path between them and him had several braziers lining it. The two closest to the doors were lit, giving off a smell of burning incense and sage. The tall, stained-gss windows illuminated the room in a dazzling array of colors as the sun shone through the depictions of heroes, gods, and kings.

  They strode calmly forward, and all of them offered Servitium et Fidem to the Viceroy, except for Shiloh, who nodded politely and gave half a bow. Twil had been quite insistent that this was the correct way to greet him, and she drilled the motions into Shiloh while Viktora was getting fitted for her dress. When Shiloh looked up, he was able to take in more of the man's appearance.

  Viceroy Chambers was a thin, reedy man in a loose ensemble of purple. He didn't wear a crown, but held a scepter with a rge amethyst cradled by knotted roots on the end of it. His slightly pointed ears gave him away as a half-elf, and his excited look told Shiloh that their party was the most exciting thing to happen around here for a while. Other than that, Chambers looked like he would rather be in a library or boratory than sitting in a room with stuffy nobles, which immediately made Shiloh's opinion of him rise.

  "Welcome to Chattery, Shiloh Sutton, avatar of the goddess Aphrodite. Welcome to you and your companions."