6.55 – Consequences


    "I didn''t do anything," Natalie said. "I told you I wouldn''t, didn''t I? But, um, ina might have done a few things to me."


    Jordan gave her perhaps the ttest look in all of existence.


    Natalie''s ears burned.


    "And, um," she continued. "Someone might''ve found us … I mean, her, on me, getting intimate … in the middle of a public alleyway."


    The t look turned disbelieving.


    "ina said I should go find you, and that we should take an early train back to Aradon," Natalie finished. "Apparently her dad is … protective. Might make a big fuss. We don''t know how long it''ll be before he finds out, but ina knows it''ll happen. Apparently the woman who found us is loyal to him, so there''s no way she stays quiet."


    Jordan stared at her.


    Finally, she forlornly looked down at her half-eaten pastry, and let out an enormous sigh. She wrapped it up in the paper it hade in and walked over to the nearest bin, tossing it in the trash.


    "Natalie," Jordan said. "What the hell is wrong with you?"


    "H-Hey."


    "Do you <em>really</em> have to fuck anything that wiggles its ass at you? Anything at all?" She walked up to Natalie and poked her in the chest. Narrow green eyes scrutinized her. "Do you not <em>already </em>get your pick of <em>us</em>, three times a day?"


    "It just happened," Natalie stammered, raising her hands in self defense. "And really! I didn''t fuck her. It was all ina." She clung to her flimsy excuse, because really, it was all she had.


    Jordan groaned, and Natalie''s ears burned hotter.


    "I''m finding you a chastity cage," she said tly. "And I''ll carry the key around. You''ll need a permission slip whenever you want to fuck someone." She rubbed her forehead. "Well, let''s go collect the team. I was having fun, you know."


    "Sorry." She really was. Maybe Jordan had a point. Her self-control had been at a record low when it came to ina, and that was saying something, considering her standards for recklessness.


    In a hurry, they went and gathered their teammates. Each of them took the news in a different way. Sofia reacted much the same as Jordan, with an extra helping of outrage. Liz seemed exasperated but not surprised—and also worried. She cared most about reputation among them, for obvious reasons. Ana they foundst, off in a secluded area sitting by herself on a bench, enjoying some solitude. She saw her four teammates approaching, Natalie''s embarrassment, and stood.


    "It''s happened, then?" she asked.


    Natalie guessed she was pretty predictable.


    Before long, they had extricated themselves from the celebration and were hurrying back to <em>The Kraken''s Heath </em>to collect their belongings. Next stop would be the train station, and it would be pure luck whether there was one headed for Aradon soon. Odds weren''t low, though. Plentiful traffic to the capital.


    "Honestly," Jordan said in the carriage ride over. "It''s our fault. Why''d we let her out of our sight? It was obvious what would happen."


    "I agree," Sofia said. "We have no one to me but ourselves. Like leaving a cat in a room with catnip."


    Natalie couldn''t help but think that was rather patronizing … but maybe fair, considering the circumstances. She had no leg to stand on when it came to defending her self-control.


    She sighed, slumping into her seat. Yes, this was definitely all her fault.


    But, admittedly, a small part of her couldn''t help but think:


    <em>At least the pussy was good.</em>


    It was probably for the best that she didn''t voice that to her teammates.


    ***


    By some miracle, they escaped Tarenhelm without issue. The next train had only been forty-five minutes from departure, and that hadn''t been quick enough for the Baron to discover what had happened ande chasing after them—whether he would even do something like that.


    They made it to T well past evening, with night having taken over. They hauled their luggage to their respective dorms and unpacked. Despite her exasperation and annoyance, Jordan wasn''t actually <em>mad</em>; she cuddled up with Natalie like normal that night. Though it went no further than cuddling. That might''ve been because Natalie didn''t initiate, not wanting to push her luck. Could''ve just been that they were both exhausted too. Natalie had been through a wringer of a day. Those bruises from the chieftain had gone nowhere.


    The next morning, they made their report to T. They omitted anything to do with Greed and Natalie''s ss, instead simply exining what had happened—including the golden veins, but not offering any theories of their own. The only part they outright lied about was the shards of Greed Natalie had absorbed. All else was unfiltered.


    Later, she wasn''t sure how long from now, she would be meeting with the King to give a full report. Liz had work to do on her side to arrange that. The concept disoriented Natalie. A meeting with the King. How insane.


    The day at T passed like normal. Morning training, followed by sses, then lunch, and academics. A part of her started to rx, wondering whether anything would evene from her indiscretion with ina. The team had been split on whether to tell T what Natalie had done, but they had decided against it. It was possible the Baron wouldn''t want rumors to spread and would fume in silence.


    Then the other shoe dropped. At the end of the academic day, a T official fetched her, a woman in a prim suit and high heels. The dean of the academy wanted to speak with her, she told Natalie. She tried not to panic; it was possible that she''d been sent for because the dean wanted rification on their bizarre quest report. In fact, that was likely the case, logically speaking.


    But her hopes were squashed when, stepping into the dean''s office, Natalie found herself in a meeting with<em> not just </em>one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, the dean of T Delving Academy, but also Baron Crestwood.


    And neither of them looked happy in the slightest.