Moriko smirked as the doors to the dungeon opened with an overly dramatic grinding sound, she retty certain that Kazue was responsible for that as the doors were normally rather quiet. The monk had a feeling she khe sort of things her two spouses were about to be up to, and she was on guard as she followed Ricardo into the entrance of the dungeon along with a few guards and some other merts who had joihe caravan after the meeting back at the capital.

  Just as a red-haired blur threw itself into Ricardo's arm, shouting “Daddy!” Moriko felt a whisper of dispced air behind her. Before he could grab her, she spun into a jump and grabbed Mordecai by the head instead, pulling him into a kiss while she ed her legs around his waist.

  One of the things she enjoyed about her husband was that she could pletely trust in his strength and skill. Which wasn’t just about the fact that he was strong and tall enough to catch her and bahem both, but that she could trust him to do so. She g to him like that for a rather long kiss, then slid off as she licked her lips. “Gods I’ve missed you two.” She turo where Ricardo was hugging Kazue tightly, trying, and failing, to not cry. Not that Kazue was doing much better at the moment.

  She shook her head with amusement. “Well, I suppose it’s fair to have to wait a moment this time.” She leaned bad rested in the warmth of Mordecai’s embrace as he nuzzled into her hair. Oh, it was sood to be home.

  After a little while more the father and daughter pair mao break apart and Kazue bounced over to throw herself onto Moriko’s arms, giving her a ce to enjoy her sed wele-home kiss. It was nice, but she didn’t hold it as long and instead drew Kazue to the side. Ricardo had recovered his de as much as he could and was doing his best to stare down Mordecai.

  “So, you’re the one who talked my daughter into this little marriage, hmm?”

  Mordecai looked unruffled by this as he smiled and ined his head slightly in aowledgment. “I suggested it, yes.”

  Ricardo snorted. “And you’re not in the least ed with meeting her father after havi up a marriage like that?”

  “Not particurly. I could see it in other circumstances maybe, but unless you think you cim to be scarier than her…” As he trailed off, Mordecai looked pointedly behind Ricardo where a different red-headed kitsune was walking out from one of the side corridors. “Oh, and I do hope you listeo Moriko’s advice.”

  Riuttered, “Point," before coughing and turning around to face Akahana. “Hello love-.” The man fell into stunned silence as he beheld what she was wearing. The kitsune was in her human form and wearing a yered green dress. The bottom yer was a slinky, sleeveless greeh of silk that fell to just past her knees, with overpping slits up to her hips that only fshed her legs when she moved. Over that draped shifting yers of diaphanous silk that created moving shadows and highlights to partially hide and partially tease the curves that the tight dress underh showed off.

  Akahana sashayed over to him before drawing his head down to give a warm greeting kiss, and when the druidess was done she pulled baough to smile at him. “Now, you were about to say something?”

  The mert blinked and nodded as he gathered his thoughts back. “Right, er,” he sighed. “I’m sorry this isn’t the most romantic way, and I am sorry for being an idiot all these years,” As he spoke, Ricardo pulled a small jewelry box out of a pouch. “Akahana, will -”

  “Yes!” She interrupted with a mischievous look, plug the box out of his hand before he could open it. “Now let’s see, oh, pretty. The tral emerald looks geous, and I like the double halo of rainbow moonstones and dark gars. All set in gold, and ented. You tell me what it does ter.” She leaned in to give him another kiss before holding out the ring and her left hand. “Well, go on, put it on me.”

  He tio look a little dazed as he plied, then Akahana snatched up his arm and started dragging him off to the corridor she had just e from. “What? Love, what is going on?”

  “Well, I am certainly not waiting any longer. Our daughter got married before us even! So I’ve made sure everything is ready.” She was clearly trying to not ugh at her soon-to-be husband’s expression. “And we have the perfect priest already lined up! Or did Moriko not happen to mention that Mordecai is a priest of Ozuran? Oh, and he helped me create a fabulous pair of wedding bands that will go wonderfully with my e ring.”

  Moriko was gaping at the se in front of her, but Kazue just simply started giggling. “Okay, time for Mordecai and I to ge our roles. See you in the shrine!” She gave Moriko another kiss before disappearing, and Mordecai made an invitiure at their other visitors. “I apologize for the unorthodox greeting, but I hope being able to attend a wedding will suffice as repense. We turn to business in a little bit.” He then kissed Moriko as well before he dissipated his avatar.

  The half-elf shook her head in bemusement before she followed the about-to-be-married couple down the hallway and into the shrine holding statues for the majods of Kuic, the slightly fused guards and merts in tow.

  There she found the shrine well decorated for a small wedding, with a slew of bunkin and rabkin ag as audiend attendants. Mordecai stood in front of the statue of Ozuran in what Moriko could only describe as gothic regalia, his majestic robe and cloak falling to the floor like liquid shadows and seemingly drawing light towards the fabric, but leaving his face well-lit.

  Kazue was now wearing a frilly white dress with a basket full of petals on one arm, and she walked before her parents tossing the petals onto the ground to create a path for them. Ricardo still looked a little poleaxed but he was rec as he was now walking alongside Akahana instead of being pulled by her.

  Moriko settled herself against the back wall to watch with amusement as her mother-in-w and father-in-w finally got hitched.

  When the couple stopped in front of Mordecai, he gave a fairly typical speech regarding the seriousness of speaking binding oaths in front of Ozuran, and to chose their oaths carefully. It was ly a surprise that the couple chose “until life’s end,” given that both had them had been merely pretending to not already be itted during the past twenty years of a long-distaionship. Today’s ceremony was only making the marriage official, Moriko suspected that most gods would have sidered them married anyway.

  It was sweet to watch these two getting married, and she liked seeing this aspeordecai in a less stressful situation. He had usually been at least a little pyful with her and Kazue, and the few times he’d not been had been situations where at least someone hadn’t been happy. Here he was being serious and dutiful in his role as a priest and she kind of liked it. And not just because she’d suddenly discovered she liked the idea of pying out a ‘corrupt the priest’ sario.

  As the ceremony came to a oriko joihe cheering and g as husband and wife shared a lingering kiss. It didn’t take long for Kazue to start throwing the petals directly at her parents' heads in an attempt to get them to stop already, and Moriko was amused to realize that she had far more petals avaible than her basket could possibly have held. The little kitsune was of course using her dungeon powers to cheat.

  Moriko waited until she had a ce to catch Kazue’s eyes before she spoke over the link the three of them shared. “Kazue love, don’t you think he looks so dignified and handsome when he’s being serious like that? I’m certain that such a proud priest would never fall to the temptations of two wicked temptresses, right?”

  Kazue blinked. “What? Oh, oh! Yes, it would be an absolute shame if a holy mao fall to base temptation. I am sure he is far above such things.” The two of them shared a smirk and then looked toward Mordecai.

  He merely raised a lofty eyebrow then ighe entire versation with a touch of haughtiness, already pying the role they’d selected for him. This was going to be a fun day of anticipation until Moriko finally got the two of them alone.

  There were several hours of celebratory chaos that spilled bato the mairy, with the word spreading quickly back to the rest of the caravan and the ganthros serving all the guests food and drink. As more people came in to celebrate Mordecai and Kazue temporarily opened up the entire first floor to freely explore to try and aodate everyone. Which let the faeries and dire rabbits iigate the celebrations as well.

  While she couldn’t hear it the same way, Moriko could feel when her husband and wife were focused on the dungeon and it quickly became clear that they were giving orders on the fly to let everyoand down from normal duty and to spread the celebration around. They’d have a ce to gratute the newlyweds ter, though they’d not had a eet Ricardo yet.

  The groom had his own surprises in store for them however, and slipped out briefly to return with a gift separate from what he’d been pnning for his business with the dungeon. With a wicked grin, he presented a wax-sealed metal bottle with a dwarven maker’s mark stamped on it to Mordecai. “I think this should call us even for the party. Unless you don’t think your dungeon is up to replig it of course.”

  Mordecai’s eyes widened when he reized the bottle and Akahana gasped in surprise, but Moriko and Kazue were left to share a fused look. Mordecai accepted the bottle almost reverently as he murmured, “Golden Opalfire Mushroom Elixir.”

  Oh. Moriko knew of it, it was the dwarves’ most famous brew, but she’d never even seen a bottle of it in person. The exau was a tightly held secret but there were a few details deliberately bragged about; the starting point was some mixture of particur deep-growth mushrooms and fungi, the water came from underground mineral springs with special properties, and there ersistent and oft denied rumor that the blood of a specific cave-dwelling species was he elixir was then aged for a very long time in a steel cask lined with opal grown on a gold matrix blessed by dwarven priests.

  The matrix required decades to create on its own, assuming you didn’t damage it before it was done, and the matrix for each cask was broken apart after it was used and the opals and gold used to seal the bottles that the elixir was transferred into. Moriko didn’t know what the going price was for the bottle in front of her but she retty certain she couldn’t afford it without selling some of the jewelry she’d retly been gifted with.

  The bottle shimmered a moment as Mordecai took the time to analyze it, then gave Ricardo a smile. “For your wedding night, I assume? You just weren’t expeg it to be this fast. A good choice. And I think you and your bride deserve the first pour from the inal bottle.” A bunkin had e over and held up his hands to receive the tray Mordecai jured, followed by some closely bunched shot gsses. Mordecai carefully peeled off the wax seal, which was also stamped with the same mark, to reveal the ‘cork’ of the bottle: A cap made of gold to seal the bottle, decorated with a single rge, intensely red opal on top. It looked almost liquid as it shimmered in the light, like it wao just flow off the bottle.

  Mordecai gently pried the cap off and hahe cap to Kazue, then proceeded to pour the elixir into the waiting gsses. It held the color ht, fresh blood despite being a much thinner and more translut fluid. He poured carefully but there was some spill as he deliberately chose to fill two of the gsses out of the same pour. He held the bottle out to Moriko, then picked up the two gsses to hand to Ricardo and Akahana. “I think you know how to do this,” he said with a grin.

  The couple smiled at each other then twiheir arms at the elbow and drew close before downing their shots simultaneously. Another r cheer went out, and when it died down Mordecai gave a loud cp to draw everyone’s attention. “I will make sure there is enough for everyoo enjoy, but I want to make sure something is clear. I have no iion of drawing the ire of every dwarven nation, I will not be selling reprodus of this elixir. I will serve it occasionally, and rarely it may be avaible as a reward, but I will not pete with the dwarves on this. Also, I only make a copy of the final produ this case, I don’t know enough of how it was manufactured to reliably make variations.”

  Moriko retty certain that the st part olitical lie given what she’d grown to learn of their capabilities, but it was a good choice here. She drew the bottle close to give it a sniff and liked what she smelled. It burned a little of course, but it was a unique sort of earthy, semi-spicy aroma with both dark and bright he gold couldn’t provide any fvor, but the opal itself certainly could. Whatever the truth of how it was made, she knew she wanted some and made sure to get a gss from the first tray before helping to fill msses with the inal bottle. No business was getting dohis day.

  Zagaroth