Celeste stared at Dela for a long time. The woman didn't react, holding her gaze. It was Celeste who looked away first.

“No, you’re seeing if I’ll fall for it. I might not know everything that may be going on, but I’m not that gullible.” Dela didn’t seem to be joking, but she wasn’t taking any chances. After all, her underling had brought her here under pretenses. Maybe Dela was like Malatar and the other Inquisitors and used her words to hide the truth.

“You don’t believe me.” Dela retrieved a bag that hadn’t been too far from where she sat and opened it. “Good. You can’t take anyone purely at their word in this world.” She rummaged through the bag until she found what she was looking for. “But I think I might have something that backs my claim.”

She pulled her hand out of her bag and held it out to Celeste. Celeste cupped her hands, allowing Dela to open hers and drop the item into Celeste’s palm. It was very light, whatever it was. Celeste took a closer look.

It was a braided bracelet, much like one she had made several times. She had given them away, mostly to children who visited the shop frequently. But this one was different than those. It was dirty and probably hadn’t been worn in a while judging by the shape the strings that tied together were in. They probably couldn’t even tie a knot. The braid was done differently so that it would be stronger than most of the ones made she did, so the main part was still intact. Then there were the colors, red and yellow.

“I made this for Derrick when he finally made it into the Guard. Or at least one very similar to it…”

“That’s the very same one. He didn’t have anything else to give me when he proposed, so he gave me this.” If it was a copy, it was a very accurate one. Celeste handed it back to her. “And if you still don’t believe me, you can always ask Orsic… or even Davik if you ever run into him again.”

True, the bracelet wasn’t proof enough of her marriage claim, but the fact that she knew of its existence and had known that she was the one who made it for Derrick at least proved she probably was at least close to him at one time. She put the bracelet into the bag.

“So you’re married to Davik…”

“Was married. We parted ways shortly after the conflict between the Revivers and Renewers began. He wasn’t the same man that I had originally married. But that’s enough about that. Let’s talk about you.”

It always returned to that, didn’t it? Celeste was failing to see what was so interesting about her that Dela wanted to meet her. If she wasn’t lying about her and Davik, then maybe it was a personal thing. But if they had parted ways a long time ago, Celeste’s presence should hardly affect anything.

“Have you decided what your next step is going to be? You can’t stay in Rusty’s shed forever.”

Celeste clenched her fists. She knew that. While Rusty hadn’t brought it up, probably out of politeness, she knew that his hospitality could only go so far before it became too inconvenient for him.

“Why is everyone so interested in what I’m going to do next? Don’t you have anything else better to do!?” She quickly stopped once she realized she’d yelled at Dela. No doubt anyone even near the tent heard that. But Dela didn’t seem insulted. She merely nodded.

“I’ve been told often that I’m not sensitive enough when it comes to some things. I probably shouldn’t have been so direct.” That was probably as close to as an apology that Del would make. “People have been after you about it, haven’t they?”

“Some more than others,” Celeste admitted. “I know most are just curious or maybe even concerned about me, but…”

“But now Davik’s pressuring you to make some sort of long term decision, isn’t he? He always did know how to pour on the pressure to make his enemy react in a way that left them open.” Celeste could only nod to Dela’s question. There was no use in lying about that. “May I see what he said?”

She thought about saying no. But Dela seemed to know what was going on a bit too much for it to be a lucky guess. And what happened probably wouldn’t remain secret for long, much like her identity and relation to the leaders of both camps. Celeste pulled the book Orsic had given her out and opened it to the page where she kept the letter. Dela raised an eyebrow.

“Ah, Orsic gave you his diary, so you must be the person you claim you are. He wouldn’t give that to just anyone.” Dela took the letter from Celeste. She looked over it, shaking her head once and a while. “Twelve years and Davik’s writing hasn’t gotten any neater. I suppose he doesn’t have to write that often, but still…” She moved the paper with her hands and another sheet popped out from behind the letter. “He gave you a two-page note? Mine was only half a page when he sent me my ultimatum.”

“No, it was only one. I don’t know where that second page came from.” It was somewhat a relief to learn that she was not the only one that Davik had sent a note to. It made her feel less signaled out, thought it was a bit troubling that she had a longer note than the woman who claimed to be his wife.

“Ah, that’s because this is from Orsic to me. He must’ve figured we’d run into each other eventually, though I doubt he expected it to be this soon. Don’t worry; It’s just him vouching for your identity.” She tossed the letter Davik had sent her back to her. “I suggest you burn that as soon as you get back to Rusty’s. It could bring more trouble than good if you run into someone who fancies that they could use you to bring down Davik… or even Orsic if they’re feeling extra ambitious.”

She put the letter from Orsic aside, more like trash than some sort of official note. It had been a nice gesture on Orsic’s part, though Celeste wished he would’ve told her. But it appeared like she would need to get used to secrets if she were to keep in contact with him.

“So, he gave you two weeks to make up your mind. That’s rather generous of him. Usually, he only gives people a week.” Dela remarked as Celeste put her things back in her bag. “He gave me a week and a half, but I think he also knew that I had already made up my mind when I left.”

“If he knew, why did he even bother?”

“Appearances mostly. I don’t know how many Renewers you’ve met, but you’ve probably noticed that they aren’t the most…” Dela searched for the right word. “Stable bunch. Where the Revivers let their paranoia of outsiders cause them to be prickly, the Renewers are cut-throat toward those that they don’t find worth their respect. Not all of them are like that, but enough are that even someone as ruthless as Davik has to watch themselves around them. If the other Renewers sense any sort of weakness in him, they’ll pounce on it. There are plenty willing to kill him for leadership if the opportunity arose.”

Celeste could understand what she meant. The few she had seen were not what she would call friendly. She wasn’t sure what held the camp together if there was always the possibility of backstabbing or getting killed, but maybe enough of them had just enough sense to not do it all the time.

“But what I don’t understand is why he gave me the option to join the Renewers. He’s the one that said they had no use for me.”

“He could find a use for you given the opportunity. I’m not sure it’d be something you’d be pleased with, but it would be something.”

Then she thought to what Tundar and Seraque had told her. They had said that Malatar could get her into the Revivers if she wanted to join. She had to wonder if that was Malatar’s idea or if Davik had put him up to it to save face.

“But you aren’t even considering joining them, are you?”

To Dela’s question, Celeste shook her head. “No. I’d sooner join the Revivers, and even that doesn’t seem too appealing.”

“Because of the distrust or because Orsic is there? Perhaps a bit of both, but I’ll let you figure that out for yourself.” She started to get up. “I won’t keep you at this camp if you don’t wish to stay, but I do recommend that you stay for the rest of the day since we delayed your trip. Stay with Kaskeh, she’ll take care of you.”

Celeste nodded and stood up. She expected the conversation to last a bit longer, but maybe Dela had things to do or no longer had an interest in her now that she met her. She didn’t mind only staying overnight. She doubted that the goblins that came and got her for Davik bothered to lock Rusty’s house.

“And when you see Davik, tell him to stop sniffing around the town near our camp. That town is under our protection and he knows it.”

Dela escorted her to the tent entrance and let her out. Celeste supposed that she had nothing better to do than go find Kaskeh.