Arad stood, walking toward the stairs and carrying Mira across the broken steps. “I can walk!” she cried, unable to escape his arms.

“Not taking any chances.” Arad ignored her cries and took her to their room. Aella and Eris quickly followed them.

CLICK! Arad opened his room’s door, staring inside to see Isdis asleep on his bed, hugging the pillow like a massive teddy bear. He glared at her, counting the distance she left from the edges.

^She’s dead in the center of the bed,^ Arad growled, grabbing her by the ankle, “Move! That Mira and Aella’s place.”

“A few more minutes…” She mumbled, crawling beneath the blanket.

“Let her sleep,” Mira said with a smile, “I will sleep on the couch,”

Arad stared at her, “No, you two are using the bed.” Arad pulled Isdis by the ankle, dropping her from the bed.

BANG! Isdis’s forehead smacked on the ground, and she woke up. Crying, “AWA! What happened?” She stared at Arad.

“That isn’t your bed,” Arad stared at her.

“You could have woken me up!” Isdis growled, and Arad glared at her, poking her red forehead, “I tried. Use the couch.”

Isdis stood, dragging herself to the couch and sitting on it, “Couldn’t we rent more rooms?”

Arad stared at her, “We arrived late. All rooms are full, and we barely managed to get two,”

“Even so, if you said I was here, they could have emptied some rooms.” She sighed.

“And have a rain of assassins storming us? No thanks, Mira is here as well, remember that.” Arad glared at her, “Tomorrow, we will cross the city and get you to the castle. You’re only sleeping on the couch once,”

Aella and Eris walked after them. They Saw Isdis squatting on the couch with tears in her eyes and a red dot on her forehead.

“What happened?” Aella asked with a puzzled face.

“He hit me!” Isdis cried.

Aella stared at her, “Is that so? What did you do?”

Eris laughed, “You deserve it. I bet he dragged you out of the bed.”

Arad stared at them, “That bump on her forehead is from dropping from the bed.”

Isdis grunted, and Eris approached her, “If Arad hit you for real, you won’t be alive to speak of it. And he’s more of the type to mess with you rather than get violent,” She smiled.

Aella approached the bed and sat beside Mira, “Where will you sleep? This bed is small.” She looked down. That was a two-person bed. There was no space for a third one, let alone someone as thick and wide as Arad.

“The ground, I’m sitting in the corner for the night,” Arad replied with a smile, “I can better observe the door and window.

“Standing guard,” Eris sighed, “You’re a hardworking one, but you need to sleep.”

“I can stay awake for weeks,” Arad replied, lifting his hand. BAM! A coffin appeared out of nowhere, dropping to the ground. “You bed,”

“Thanks!” Eris smiled, opening the coffin and laying a pillow and blank sheet inside.

Arad sat in the corner, cracking his neck.

Aella stared at him, “I can give you a massage if your shoulders are stiff,”

Arad looked at her, “Can you do it?”

“Of course,” She smiled, standing and waving her hand for him to get on the bed.

Arad stood and went to the bed, lying on his stomach.

Aella rolled her sleeves and cracked her knuckles with a smile. “Tell me if it hurt a lot,”

She put her palms on his back and started squeezing and squeezing. Her face turned bright red as the veins on her arms bulged, her fingers white yet never digging into his back. Like a rock, she couldn’t dent him.

Arad turned his head, “You can’t do it?”

“Give me a moment. I will start getting serious.” Aella growled, almost popping a vein.

“Wait!” Mira stopped her with a smile, “Leave it to me,” She said, clenching her fists and puffing her chest.

“Have a plan?” Aella stared at her, not expecting much.

Mira nodded energetically, “Yes. Arad, get the hammer!”

Arad lifted his hand, creating a small black hole in the air. Mira ran her hand through it and pulled a hammer. “Get ready, this might hurt,”

Mira lifted the hammer and swung down as hard as she could.

CRACK! The hammer hit Arad’s back, its shaft snapping as the head flew away, smashing a hole in the wall. Mira scratched her head, “Oh! My! It didn’t work,”

Arad looked back, “I mean, my scales deflect most weapons. I won’t even feel a hammer hit,”

“If a hammer won’t work,” Mira smiled, reaching back into the hole. She then produced a sledgehammer. Worthy of being called a war hammer, a maul.

Aella gasped, “That thing is too big. Are you intending on breaking his back?”

Mira smiled, “I’m not sure even this could help,” She spat on her palms, rubbing them together before lifting the sledgehammer above her head, taking a deep breath, and swinging down.

BAM! The bed bounced as the floor shook, and a shockwave spread across the wooden inn as dust started falling from the shaken roof.

The sledgehammer rested on Arad’s back, and he slowly looked back, “Nothing, it’s like getting hit with a light tap.”

Eris smiled, getting out of her coffin and approaching them, “Let me try. I have a few tricks.” She smiled, pushing Aella away.

“What can you do?” Arad looked at her.

“Just watch,” She smiled, “You will be surprised,”

She rolled her sleeves and looked at Arad’s back. “Would you mind taking your shirt off? I don’t want to rip it apart.”

Arad sat up and snapped his fingers, the shirt disappearing into his stomach in the blink of an eye.

Eris smiled, “Now look at this,” She tapped his chest, “This is what I call strongly built.”

Arad immediately fell on his stomach, “Get to it, let me get surprised,”

Eris cracked her fingers and smiled. CHANK! Her nails turned black, extending forward as sharp claws. “Don’t worry, I’m not stabbing you. I just need longer fingers.”

She grabbed his shoulder, her claws wrapping around his collarbone and taking hold. She used that as a support and started pushing her fist into his back.

Eris’s face turned pale, and her skin seemed to dry off as she growled, pushing with all her might. CRACK! Finally, Arad’s back cracked once.

“HAAAAAA!” Eris gasped, falling on her butt. Gasping for air, “That was exhausting. How are you this hard?”

“Draconic muscles,” Arad replied, “Can you do it again?”

“I can, but not with my hands. They are too weak,” Eris sighed, standing up, “I need more power,” She climbed on the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“Legs are stronger than arms. They have more muscles.” Eris smiled, stepping on Arad’s shoulder, her toenails extending into claws. She grabbed onto him like a bird to a branch and then started pushing her right foot on his back.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! “It’s way easier this way,” She smiled.

“That’s it, on the neck,” Arad gasped, “I always try stretching in my draconic form like I saw cats do, but that can’t help me that much,” Arad smiled.

“I take pride in my strength, and even I’m struggling,” Eris stared down at Arad, “We should probably start asking that ant woman to do it,”

“Meryem? You’re right. She has a lot of strength and should be able to use her hands.” Arad sighed, “It’s sad that she has to stay, but it can’t be helped.”

Isdis stared at them, “Meryem is a queen. Her colony, her kingdom needs her.”

Aella and Mira stared at her, “Should you come give it a try?”

Isdis pointed at her face, “Me? I don’t have that much strength,” She looked away, “Even Eris barely managed to crack his back with her legs.”

Aella smiled, “Speaking of legs,” She looked at Mira, “I will massage his right arm. You take his left.” She then stared at Isdis, “You take his legs with Zephyr,”

PUFF! Zephyr popped out of thin air, “Why me?” .

“Do it!” Aella glared at her, and she sighed, “Fine.”

Zephyr flicked her finger, and her body expanded to the size of a human. Thud! She stood, staring at Isdis, “Get your ass up. I’m massaging the right leg. You take the left.”

“Why, I’m the princess here,” Isdis growled.

“We’re all equal in his room, so get to work!” Zephyr growled at her, pulling her toward the bed with wind magic.

Isdis sighed, looking at Arad’s leg, “Fine,” she rolled her sleeves up and started squeezing.

Unlike the others, she wasn’t struggling. “How are you doing it?” Aella stared at her, “His arms and legs are just as hard, right?” She poked his left leg.

“It’s about the technique.” Isdis sighed, “We princess, or any noble girl are destined to be sent on political marriages. They can’t have us be clueless about basic things to the point where we get divorced.”

“Is that so?” Mira stared at her, “I heard such a thing from Merida.”

“She was right,” Isdis stared at them, “It’s purely theoretical, but it makes sure we can get it good enough on the first time.”

Aella blinked twice, “So you can cook?”

“Of course?” Isdis smiled.

Aella glared at her, “Had I known, you would have taken your turn in the cooking shift.”