Hermes woke feeling drained. After leaving Narsil and Rashad, he had stumbled back to his room and collapsed on the cot, and slept for a few hours – he wasn't sure how long. His sleep had been plagued with strange, restless dreams of tentacled horrors: draylocks and serpents and other things.

He stared up at the ceiling of his room, unwilling to get out of bed. It was difficult to tell what time it was – the black of Voidspace never seemed to change. He wasn't even sure how many days he had been away from home. I should start a journal, he thought. He thought he had read about passengers on ships doing that as a way to keep tabs on things.

He stifled a yawn against his fist, and rolled over. Maybe after another nap, he added. He was just about to fall asleep when there was a knock at the door. He groaned.

"Come in," he mumbled, rolling back over to see who it was.

Iris entered.

Hermes sat up quickly, smoothed his hair with his hand.

"Uh, hi," he said, rubbing sleepiness out of his eyes. What's she doing here?

"I brought you some soup," Iris said. She was holding a yellow mug. Inviting wisps of steam curled up from it.

"You didn't have to do that," Hermes said. He took the mug from her, and took a sip of the creamy liquid. There were small bits of vegetable mixed into it, and he thought about asking what the ingredients were, but he had a feeling he probably wouldn't have heard of them anyway.

"Thanks," he added.

"I just remember what it was like," she said. "Summoning your Caduceus for the first time. It takes a lot of energy out of you."

"You can summon one too?"

Iris nodded. "Traditionally, every Courier learns how. I'm not a very good fighter, though. My sister was always better with the Caduceus."

"You have a sister? Where is she now?" Hermes sipped his soup again.

Iris shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. I hope she's safe. She was Angelo's partner."

"Oh. Were they--"

"No." Iris cut him off abruptly. "They were colleagues. Nothing more."

Hermes nodded. He wasn't really sure what to say, and stared into the soup in his mug. He sipped it again.

"This is good," he said, finally.

"We'll reach Reisfall soon. You'll want to get as much rest as you can. It can be a pretty rough place," Iris said. She opened her mouth as if she were about to say something else, but stopped herself. Hermes watched her carefully. What's she hiding?

"I'll do that," he said. "Thanks for the soup."

"Okay," Iris said. "Well, you're welcome. See you around."

She left the room, and Hermes stared after her. Well, that was awkward, he thought, shaking his head. Real smooth. He sighed, drank the last of the soup, and went back to bed.