An old, familiar smell filled my nostrils: the scent of fresh bread. A happy smile tugged at my lips as I drew in a deep breath and turned toward the source.

  Several new stores had sprung up along the castle yard, built neatly against the inner wall. I had agreed to Mike’s proposal some time ago to rent the space out cheaply, but seeing it actually happen still felt like a pleasant surprise.

  I wouldn’t have thought of it myself if not for Mike’s persistence. I hadn’t believed anyone would want to open a shop inside the castle’s yard — and even if they did, I doubted they’d survive. Who would shop here? It just didn’t seem like there’d be enough paying customers to keep them afloat. Yet, here they were. Shops. Real ones. And while it was true that the population inside and around the castle had grown lately, it was still surprising to see the place begin to thrive.

  Before I moved, I glanced at Jin’Sue to check my aura and saw the yellow flag. That was an acceptable result. I had been hoping to bring it down to green, but yellow was already good progress.

  I sighed. My aura had grown recently, spreading from my spot in the yard all the way past the orcs’ barracks, almost reaching the entry gate. Then it curved around, flowed over the wall, and spilled into the open areas beyond which were mostly empty, with few humans. From there, the circle returned, sweeping across a mix of small shops and warehouses, covering this part of the yard and reaching all the way up to the castle.

  Even with relatively few humans in this zone, it was still a stressful exercise to keep them all safe. At least the underground and the sky were mostly unpopulated… by humans, anyway, so I didn’t bother to focus much on those areas.

  I took a deep breath and made a beeline for the source of the smell. Nestled under the wall, a bit further from Fred's smithy, I found a bakery.

  Before entering the shop, I turned to check again on Jin’Sue and gestured for him to follow me inside. The flag was still yellow, but a lighter shade now. Not bad.

  Inside, the shop featured a long table, a few chairs, and a couple of racks to the right. Further back stood a massive oven, in front of which a chubby teenage girl was struggling to remove loaves of bread and place them on the table. A basket was already filled with warm, fragrant loaves.

  I greeted her, and she answered brightly:

  “Blessed be your heart, my lady!”

  “What’s this?” I asked, curious.

  “It’s fresh bread for dinner, my lady,” she replied. “Someone from the castle will come to pick it up.”

  She was kind and polite, but it was obvious she had no idea who I was—and I liked it that way.

  “Can you cut me a corner from one of those loaves? I’d like to see how it tastes,” I asked.

  She hesitated.

  “If I cut off a corner, my lady, I won’t be able to sell that bread anymore—only as scraps...”

  My request clearly unsettled her. I blinked, surprised.

  “How much is a whole loaf?” I asked.

  She recovered quickly, offering a broad smile.

  “Six copper, my lady.”

  I scratched my scalp, then reached for the smallest coin I had — a single silver. I held it out a bit uncertainly.

  “Here’s one silver. I’ll pay for the whole loaf. Can I have the corner now?”

  She peeked into her coin pouch, panic rising in her eyes as she met my gaze.

  “I… I… don’t have enough to give you change, my lady…”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Please, keep the silver and give me the corner.”

  “But I can’t accept a whole silver for just a corner, my lady…” she protested.

  I was already salivating at the thought of that warm, golden crust.

  I drew in a deep breath, trying to stay calm. The poor teen was squirming under my gaze.

  “What if you keep the silver, and next time I come, you give me more? Do we have a deal?”

  A bright smile bloomed across her face.

  “Ahm… that works, ma’am… okay… ahm… that would be sixteen loaves, my lady, and four copper in change.”

  I was surprised by how fast she made the calculation. She pocketed the silver and placed a sharp knife over one of the loaves.

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  “About this big?” she asked, and at my nod, she sliced through and handed me the corner.

  Lifting the bread in her hand, she added:

  “For one copper, I could have Jimminy bring the rest to your place, my lady?”

  I wanted to dismiss it, but then I remembered I wasn’t alone.

  “Hey, Jin’Sue, want some bread?” I called to the boy now standing in the bakery’s doorway.

  “Oh! Thank you, my lady,” he said with a nod.

  “Here’s your change,” the girl said, handing me four copper coins before turning to cut a slice for Jin’Sue.

  My intention had been to let her keep the change, but something caught my attention. I took the small coins in my hand and studied them. On one side was the number one; on the other, a stylized head... of a horned girl?

  “What should I do with the rest of the bread?” the girl asked.

  “Give it to him,” I said automatically, still absorbed by the coins.

  Was that head mine?

  I tucked the coins into my inventory. I'd need to talk to Hew about this. He had mentioned something about printing our own money, but I hadn’t realized he’d already started... or maybe I should finally read through the papers piling up on my desk?

  Nah. Better talk to him directly.

  *

  Chewing happily on my fresh bread corner, I made my way toward the alchemy shop where Ju should be waiting for me. I already knew this particular place, it was Roberta’s shop, the former slave I had found some time ago in Muherjo’s dakta, waiting to be taken away.

  I stepped into her modest shop, Jin’Sue following close behind, and looked around. Roberta had divided the large room in two—the front was a small but tidy shop, with shelves lined with potions and potion ingredients, all neatly arranged and waiting for customers.

  A mixture of earthy and floral scents drifted from the fresh ingredients, mingling with the stronger, unmistakable aroma of a potion brewing somewhere behind the curtain that separated the back. Oddly, the smell was… appetizing?

  “Coming!” a young female voice called, and then her head popped out from behind the curtain.

  “Oh! Lady Lores!” she exclaimed upon seeing me. “Blessed be your heart, Your Highness!” she added, dropping into a curtsy.

  “Hey Lores!” Ju’s voice came from behind the curtain. “I’ll be out in a minute!”

  Roberta glanced at the piece of bread I was chewing.

  “I’ve just made some soup,” she said. “Would you like some Your Highness?”

  Ah—that explained the smell!

  Soup from an alchemist? Of course.

  I nodded, and soon the three of us—me, Jin’Sue, and Roberta—were seated at a small table, eating soup with fresh bread. I had to insist a little to get them to sit with me, but in the end, they could only agree.

  Now the boy was making almost as much noise slurping the soup as Sid did when eating a cow.

  “Where is… ahm, your daughter?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

  I sighed inwardly. I had completely forgotten her name.

  “Rianda?” she asked, saving me. “She’s in Lady Alice’s school, learning to read!” she added proudly.

  Just then, Ju appeared from behind the curtain. Roberta had already prepared a bowl for her, but before joining us, Ju stepped over to the small basin set against the wall to wash her hands.

  “When will canalization be done in this part, Lores?” Ju asked as she washed her hands and emptied the basin into a barrel.

  I nodded gratefully at Roberta’s offer to refill my bowl, then turned to Ju.

  “They need to finish the barracks first—then they’ll come along the wall to this section.”

  “Why is it progressing so slowly?” she asked.

  I shrugged.

  “There’s still work to be done at the clearing site. We can’t dump everything straight into the lake,” I explained, all the while subtly identifying Roberta. I didn’t want her to feel observed, but I was curious about her current status.

  I was pleased to see she no longer identified as a peasant, but as an alchemist, level eleven. She hadn’t gained any new levels yet, but her alchemy skills had already surpassed her peasant ones.

  But the biggest change was in her demeanor and appearance. It was a pleasure to see how much she had improved since the day I first found her.

  Her black hair was no longer tangled but neatly tied up in a bun, and her dark eyes now lit up her entire face. The haunted, frightened look she once wore was gone—replaced by a sense of peace and quiet happiness.

  As we chatted, a subtle ting through my domain alerted me that Alice had returned.

  I already knew she was on her way back; Yisila had sent me a picture of Grubber heading “home.” But now I felt Alice herself and turned toward the point where she was about to materialize. Obviously, Yisila had let her know where I was.

  “What is it?” Ju asked, seeing me turn toward the entry. Her eyes searched the space in vain for whatever had drawn my attention.

  And then Alice materialized.

  “Oh!” Ju exclaimed.

  “Queen Lores! Alice here to report!” she said, bowing.

  I chuckled, happy to see her.

  For a moment, I admired the cascade of incendiary red hair falling over her bare shoulders. Framed by the light from the entry, her hair looked like a spill of fire—each strand catching the glow like dancing motes.

  “So what was that about the orc invasion?” I asked.

  She sighed. “It’s true. Several tribes were on the move,” she said, nodding.

  I drew in a deep breath.

  “Hah! What were they thinking? Why now?”