“So this is where you went,” Nyx slurs, awkwardly sliding to the floor.

“Eporwil must be so proud of you,” Luke says, his face a mixture of worry and mild amusement.

“The goddess of ale and I have an arrangement. I drink and . . .” she starts before her mind blanks out.

“How much did you drink?” he asks. He brushes strands of her ebony hair from her sweat-covered face.

“About four sailors’ worth before I gave up my chair,” Nyx proudly announces. She curls her fingers in her hair and nuzzles the warm tresses. “Unlike you and Aedyn, I don’t need a spell to help me drink. I love my warm, sweet hair, but my teachers always told me to stop playing with it. It isn’t lady-like and . . . my tummy hurts.”

Luke helps Nyx to her feet and tries to keep her steady. Nyx smiles and belches in his face before her throat starts gurgling. Forest tracker reflexes and self-preservation help Luke shove her head over the railing. He holds her hair back as she continues to lean over the side. Luke hands her a scrap of cloth, which Nyx smiles at and gladly accepts. She neatly tucks it into her shirt collar before wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Luke is about to say something when Nyx takes the cloth out and attempts to wipe her sleeve clean.

“This is entertaining,” Luke laughs.

Nyx’s speech suddenly becomes a frantic slur. “Don’t let Fritz look down my shirt.”

“I will protect your honor and chastity until you can take care of yourself,” Luke solemnly swears. He makes a small salute and bow, which Nyx giggles at. “Now, I think it’s time for you to grab a waterskin and try to get some sleep. Just lean on me and I’ll help you with that difficult activity we sober people call walking”

“I have a waterskin,” Nyx states. She holds up the dripping pouch and tries to pry it open with her teeth.

“Is it really water?” Luke asks suspiciously.

“Yup. Good old wine. Hey! Gimme back!” Nyx cries as Luke snatches the waterskin from her. He drops the waterskin over the railing and where it gets caught on the rudder. Nyx weakly reaches toward the railing as Luke drags her away.

“You can have it back tomorrow. Time for Nyx to get some sleep,” he says, noticing that Nyx is pouting and trying to deadweight herself. Luke sighs as she goes limp and he easily picks her up in his arms like a child.

“Put me down,” Nyx groans. She weakly bops Luke on the nose with her fist, but he refuses to put her down.

“In a bit. I never realized how light you are,” Luke states, wiggling his sore nose. “You can’t be any more than one hundred and ten pounds. I never had a reason to pick you up before, but I expected you to be heavier. Please, stop flailing and squirming.”

“You’re being mean, little brother,” she mutters.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that. Why?” Luke asks.

Nyx repeatedly smacks him on the temple until her palm turns red. “You’re eighteen and I’m almost twenty. That makes you the little brother and me the big sister. I always wanted a little brother to play with. I’ll call you that for as long as we travel together. The two of us make a good team, so we should wander around Windemere for a while. Get some experience under our belts and see the world. We also have to defeat this great darkness that Cyril told me was coming.”

Luke stops a few feet from the party and looks at Nyx. “Great darkness?”

“Yuppers,” she happily replies. “Cyril said that my leaving Gaia was a sign that a great darkness would be threatening the world. I’m going to face it. I think. He was rather vague about what it had to do with me. You want to help me?”

Luke smiles at the drunken caster who is staring at him with half-closed eyes. “Sure. We can fight the great evil after we bring Kellia home. Now, you have to get some sleep before you find any more trouble.”

“Not great evil. Great darkness,” Nyx corrects him.

“I’m sorry. I will help you defeat the great darkness,” Luke says, his smile growing wider.

“Thanks, Luke. I knew you would be the one to help me if I asked. Kellia was right about you. You’re very kind and nice even though you can be a stupid jackass at times,” Nyx says, a crooked grin growing on her face. She yawns and playfully tussles Luke’s hair. “It’s like having my very own little brother. Someday you have to introduce me to my little sister-in-law that I keep hearing about.”

Luke quietly sneaks her below decks to her room and lays her on the bed without saying another word. He checks the waterskins that he finds around the room until he comes across one that has water instead of wine. Nyx takes it with minimal whining and drinks like a baby with its bottle until she falls asleep. Luke leans back in a creaky chair and keeps an eye on her for the rest of the night. He can hear the party end as the sun begins to leak through the partially covered porthole.

“I’m going to remember this night for a very long time,” Luke yawns, falling asleep in the chair.