"The price I paid for my freedom was terrible indeed."

"Couldn't you just take the girdle off now that you have escaped?"

"Unfortunately the only kind I could weave from my hair was a cursed kind and it is impossible to ever turn back."

"Oh no! I will never get to look upon your great beauty. I'm very deprived."

At the Onyx Rynaeri is able, just barely, to get the floating disk upstairs with Chal on it, and she and Belmarniss haul him onto the bed, and Belmarniss shows her where the snacks are and murmurs about maybe not eating too much, and Rynaeri is delighted by figs and manages to get Chal to eat some even though he chews very slowly.

He will put his notes together for her and leave them in her room and give them some space.

She comes by his room and knocks very quietly at nearly midnight.

He gets the door. "Hey."

"- did I wake you -"

"Nah. Come on in?"

She comes in. "He talked a little.

I hate Pharasma, I hate her so much -"

"Yeah." Hug? "It's so pointlessly stupid and horrible."

Hug hug hug. "He's not even - he - I hate her -"

He nods fervently. 

"I think he'll be all right, but - but. Well.

Rynaeri's guess was she'll want to move 'em into an actual house by the time my payment on the room is up, and I talked her into looking at places here to start out where they can duck into Zeun no big deal if she wants. If they like it upstairs probably she'll haul 'em both to Absalom though, she liked the sound of it. You been?"

"Yeah. It's definitely not boring. I like it better than Sothis though it's kind of appalling how many brothels a city accumulates if it's not doing the Osirion thing."

"I didn't count them when I passed through, how many is it?"

"I can't say I counted either but probably a hundred? It's got to be one of the main forms of entertainment."

"Wow. I don't think that will be a major draw, she just likes things busy and exciting, but it won't put her off."

"Busy and exciting she will get. And someday she can spectate when you go for the Starstone."

"Unless Nefreti convinces me not to, I guess." She shakes her head. "I did my attempt at reconstructing the commentary and looked over yours, it helped. It's less substantial than it felt at the time, I think."

"Points towards 'con artist'. And I guess you rarely go wrong telling people to delay going after the Starstone. Though... I dunno. Nethys is supposed to know everything."

"Yeah, well, if his clerics like to pick up extra donations with a scam of this nature they would say that, wouldn't they."

"I guess."

Hug. "I was actually not really expecting the hug but it's very nice."

"You can hardly invite girls into your hotel room at night and then be precious about hugging them."