Grayson woke the next morning with Fera once again in his arms. Her braid had come unraveled in the night and the gold ribbon was resting across her nose. He tried to gently brush it out of the way, but Fera still woke up with a sneeze. Grayson couldn't stop a chuckle which set his sleepy wife to pouting theatrically.

  "What's so funny?" she asked.

  "I was trying not to wake you. I guess I failed." Fera buried her face in his chest to hide her smile.

  "Yes, you did. Now you need to make it up to me," she said the mock anger in her voice slipping.

  "Now how ever could I do that?" Grayson asked, tipping her head back to kiss her.

  "I could think of some ways," Fera giggled.

  Half an hour of playful reparation later the newlyweds prepared for the day, bathing and breakfasting as usual. Fera dressed in riding clothes while Grayson set his jacket, shirt and pants to be the same warm clothes as he had two weeks ago. Fera packed their saddlebags including grabbing ingredients from the kitchens while Grayson went to talk to Mertaba. He'd had a conversation about where exactly Grayson should go for his first patrol as a Crusader. A few reports were supposed to have come in from the Crusaders that left two days earlier. They went over the reports and came up with an area that was covered by the patrol ranges of two other Crusaders. It was still Grayson's first time performing a patrol, so his area of responsibility would be covered by more experienced people as a backup.

  "And good luck, Grayson. We have high hopes for you," Mertaba said as Grayson turned to leave.

  "Thank you, Mertaba. Good luck to you as well," Grayson responded.

  Grayson returned to his and Fera's room, kissed his wife, then took the saddlebags down to the stable where he put saddle and bridle on Mink and waited for Fera to show up from her talk with Brettin. The head priest turned up with her to bid Grayson his own farewell.

  "Look after her, Grayson," the high priest said, waving at the pair as he left. Grayson and Fera returned the wave before Fera mounted Mink and Grayson led the pegasus out of the stable.

  Grayson climbed into the saddle behind her and they rode to Madam Gheris' restaurant. Grayson had spoken to her during the wedding party to arrange a packed lunch for their trip. The pair were forced at the point of a spatula to dismount for hugs from the tall orc. She took them in an arm each, lifting both of them from the ground and holding them tight.

  "Be safe, you two. May the light of your Lady guide you," Madam Gheris said as she put them back on the ground and handed over their lunch.

  "May your tables be full of smiling patrons," Grayson responded. Madam Gheris laughed heartily.

  They mounted up again, Fera dropping the hot stone drink sleeves they'd bought the previous week into the bag with their lunch to keep it warm. They rode back to the knight compound to use their field to take off. It was a clear day with few clouds and a warm breeze from the south. Their takeoff went smoothly and soon the pair were flying to the West, returning towards the village Grayson had originally arrived at.

  Their flight was uneventful and they made light conversation, talking about what they expected to find, how everyone in the village would be surprised when they arrived, and other such things. Aside from scanning the ground and horizon for signs of trouble, it kept them occupied for the first leg of their journey. After a few hours, they touched down on a hill top to eat their lunch and stretch their legs before they set off again. Mink grazed while they ate and the trio returned to the sky a few minutes later. It was a few hours in when Fera realized something.

  "You aren't using a map. What are you doing to navigate?" she asked.

  "I'm using a map in my head. It's got our position marked on it and keeps me aligned with our current speed. Queuecy is keeping it up to date," Grayson explained. Fera twisted around to look at him.

  "I'm not even surprised anymore. Who or what is Queuecy?" she asked.

  "I told you my bones have emotions right? Queuecy is my bones. Strictly speaking a mind living in crystals in my bones. The words don't exist in this language to explain it properly." Fera stared at him.

  "Wait, they're inside you. How are they updating the map?" Fera asked. Grayson leaned in and kissed her. "And while I enjoy that, what was it for?"

  "I love how flexible you are, mentally speaking," Grayson said.

  "And physically?" asked Fera, wiggling against him. Grayson laughed, hugging her.

  "That too. My bones can see using my skin. That's probably the best way to phrase it. Anything my skin is visible to, my bones can see and do math to get speed and distance." It was about the best he could do without inventing words.

  "Smart bones," said Fera, leaning back into him.

  "You don't know the half of it. He's been pretty quiet the last few days, looking for a way to keep having emotions."

  "You know, from anyone else this would sound completely insane. I just kind of expect it from you. Have any more completely outlandish things to tell me?" Fera asked.

  "They can use magic too. They have a soul." Grayson had to hold Fera tightly to keep her from accidentally falling off the pegasus.

  "And that's okay?" Fera asked in a shocked whisper.

  "Well, Perimis knows. She gave us her blessing." Grayson reassured her with a kiss and Fera slowly relaxed.

  "What have I gotten myself into?" she asked.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  "The adventure of a lifetime?" Grayson suggested. Fera snorted.

  "Well, I have a strong and charming husband skilled in spell and sword, aligned with my Goddess, with the strength and speed of ten men. Anything less than the adventure of a lifetime will be a disappointment at this point." Fera giggled, then sighed. "As well as apparently a living, independent, skeleton."

  They continued in silence for a few hours, just being happy with each other's company. Mink was happy to fly the rest of the way in one shot, arriving back at the nameless village in the late evening. Mertaba had picked the place as the starting point to let Grayson reconnect with his friends there. Not wanting to make a fuss, Grayson and Fera headed straight to the small church and used the same guest room that Grayson and Fera had slept in on their first day together.

  The next morning, they woke up early, eager to reconnect with their friends in the village before starting to patrol the surrounding area. They prepared for the day, finishing their breakfast while talking to Lyn and the new priest of Perimis for the village. Grayson went to find Tiber and was quickly recognized. It was hardly surprising that everyone in the town knew who he was only two weeks after he'd saved half the population of the town from being kidnapped.

  The young men quickly dispersed, gathering the people who had left the town to chop wood or till the fields. A crowd gathered in the main square with Grayson and Fera at it's center. Tiber jogged up, and declared a feast, clasping Grayson's forearm in greeting. He had been appointed as the Headman of the village while Grayson was away, replacing the previous Headman who had been killed in the bandit raid.

  Preparations for the feast started almost immediately. Women went to get ingredients while men ran to grab tables and firewood. Some people also retrieved musical instruments. Tiber and Grayson stood to the side talking about what had happened while they were apart. Fera headed off with some of the village women to gather ingredients. Squeals of shared joy gave Grayson an idea of their discussion and he smiled warmly.

  Barely minutes after the declaration of the feast, tables were set around a circle marked with stones. There was a pile of firewood to the side of the circle, a large spit being set up over it with grilles being placed around it. At several tables, both men and women were chopping vegetables, butchering meat, and slicing bread and cheese. Grayson contributed some of the spices that he and Fera had brought with them.

  "I wasn't expecting you to come back so soon," said Tiber as he and Grayson watched the preparations, an attempt by Grayson to help having been rejected out of hand by all present.

  "Training went quickly. Remember how long it took me to learn the language?" Grayson said. Tiber snorted.

  "How could anyone forget that?" Tiber asked, shaking his head. "Forty minutes of a lesson where you clearly didn't speak a single word, then you flip through a book and suddenly you know the whole thing. Strangest thing I've ever seen."

  "Yeah, there was a priest of Yeran who taught me the history of this world. He was expecting weeks of lessons, me to do additional research alone, things like that. He didn't expect me to flick through a dozen books in ten minutes and just start asking questions." Grayson laughed as he recounted the story of his time with Dremgin. Their laughter attracted Fera's attention and she ran over from where she'd been talking to a few of the women chopping vegetables.

  "What? What?" she asked as she ran up.

  "I'm telling Tiber about the lesson we had with Dremgin," Grayson explained. Fera started laughing at the memory as well.

  "The look on his face when you just flipped through that treatise on ancient civilizations!" she exclaimed. "Then when he tried to test you on it and you corrected his question!"

  Tiber laughed with them, and told Fera about his own time teaching Grayson. She was struggling to breathe as he finished.

  "Yes, that sounds exactly like him. Only the Gods know what's going on with this man," she gasped.

  "Hey, I know," complained Grayson.

  "You didn't know you had a soul until two weeks ago," she laughed.

  "Wait, what?" asked Tiber.

  "It's true. Where I come from, we didn't know if souls were real. People suspected, or possibly hoped... We had a word for it." Tiber stared at Grayson in complete shock.

  "Having a word for something doesn't mean you have it! Are you a demon of some kind?" Tiber asked, laughing. Grayson pretended to consider it seriously.

  "Maybe. What if I was." Grayson said, managing to keep a straight face. Fera lightly hit the top of his head.

  "Soul confirmed, remember. Not just that, soul that goes to the Gods when you die and can damn well split," she said.

  "Yeah, not a demon. Anyway, looks like they're getting the fire started. I should go see if they need a hand." Grayson said. There was no way the village people would need his help, but he figured the comedic timing would be about right.

  "Hold on. No. You can't just throw that out in a normal conversation and try to move on. What does she mean? Grayson?" Tiber got up to follow him as Fera walked back to the other women, laughing.

  "It's fine," Grayson said.

  "It does not sound fine. You died?" Tiber asked.

  "Maybe a little, but look. I'm fine."

  "You told me you married Fera. How is she okay with this?" Tiber continued to chase Grayson through the villagers. Grayson turned around, finger to his lips.

  "Shhhh, you don't want to worry everyone," he whispered.

  "What about me, Grayson? I'm worried." Grayson chuckled and led him back out of the middle of the preparations.

  "Like I said, Tiber. I'm fine. It was a one-time thing and it's not happening again... probably." He spoke loudly enough for Tiber to hear him, but not loudly enough for others to hear over the sounds of the feast preparation. "I'm pretty much immortal. If you think about it like that, everything's okay." Tiber gasped.

  "Like a lich?" Grayson stared at him.

  "Uh, no... not like a lich at all. Wait, you have liches here?" Grayson asked.

  "The word was in the dictionary wasn't it? You know the word. Yeah, we have liches," Tiber said quietly. "Nobody's seen one for a while though."

  "The word was in dictionaries back home too and we didn't have liches. That's not a great argument Tiber." Grayson rebutted. Tiber shrugged.

  "Yes, we have liches." Grayson walked around in a circle for a moment.

  "Is this what it's like talking to me?" he asked. "Non sequiturs, sudden revelations, incredibly powerful things?" Tiber grinned at him.

  "I'm not stopping," Grayson said. Tiber burst out laughing.

  People started heating water around the steadily growing fire for soups and stews. The pile of prepared ingredients started to shrink as people began using the ingredients in various dishes. Despite the preparations starting in the mid-morning, it was past noon when cooking actually started. The carcass of a large lizard was placed on the spit over the still growing fire. It was the same kind that he'd eaten in Gravistone and had likened to beef.

  The feast was ready in the mid-afternoon. Grayson and Fera were given the primary place at the head table. Tiber recounted the story of Grayson's arrival at the village, then several other villagers came and gave their own stories of the night. Finally, Tiber spoke once again about Grayson's requests after the ordeal. The fact that after the battle, he'd wanted only a simple meal, a bath, and a bed. His humble request brought cheers and laughter as someone heckled about the lavish feast. Then came the announcement of his marriage to Fera.

  The cheer was almost deafening as the few hundred villagers toasted their union. That started the feast in earnest and everyone began eating. Most people were grabbing their own food from a buffet that included over a dozen separate dishes. Grayson's attempts to get up to get his own food was denied as Tiber retrieved plates for him and Fera. They talked of their plans for the next few days while they ate.

  "I'm looking for ways to help people more than anything. If people need protecting, that will be my priority, but anything I can do that people might need a hand with would be welcome." Grayson told Tiber while they ate.

  "You know, there is something I think you can do. One of the farmers has recently been having issues with rats."