Jeremiah was procrastinating. He was supposed to be packing up his bedroom in preparation for leaving in the morning. After all, there was nothing keeping him in Dramir—no outstanding payments, no court mandates, no siege of the city. In fact there were more reasons to leave than to stay; he had become public enemy number one in the eye of the highest levels of Dramir`s nobility. But most of his things were still strewn around the room. The thirst to prove himself that had once driven him to the open road had been more than sated.

　　"Hey, Jay?" Delilah called from downstairs. "Are you still packing?"

　　Jeremiah cringed. They`d been talking about taking him out for some sort of last hurrah, but he didn`t feel much like celebrating his newfound freedom. He got up anyway. He would finish in the morning.

　　Delilah, Bruno, and Allison were waiting for him downstairs, but Jeremiah immediately sensed something off about the scene. He paused. "What is it?"

　　"Well, we`ve been thinking," started Delilah. She looked to Bruno and Allison for confirmation. Bruno gave a hardy nod and Allison gestured for her to continue. "We know you`ve been talking about leaving Dramir tomorrow, and we definitely don`t want to get in the way of any plans you have, but we would be remiss to let you go without asking—would you be interested in becoming an equal signed partner in the Delilah, Bruno, and Allison Adventuring Corporation on a non per diem basis?"

　　Delilah`s words came faster and faster as she spoke so that Jeremiah wasn`t certain he`d heard the last part correctly. Had she really said what he thought she said?

　　Allison sighed and rolled her eyes. "Jay, do you want to officially join us? Stay here and be a member of the party?"

　　Jeremiah`s heart leapt, but he resisted the rush of excitement. "I`m not a necromancer anymore, remember? The thing with Vivica was a one-off."

　　"We know that," said Bruno. "We were all there when you told the king you were quitting, remember?"

　　Jeremiah shook his head. "You`re famous now, I`m sure you can find a mage to join you who can actually be useful on missions."

　　"We`re not asking because we want you to cast spells, Jay," said Delilah. "We`re asking because we want you to be part of the family."

　　Delilah`s words hung in the air while Jeremiah struggled to process them. He had caused his friends no end of trouble, stress, and grief. Six months ago they were ready to kill him, now they were talking about family. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he tried to keep his voice even. "Yeah. Okay, yeah. I`d really like that."

　　There was a long pause. The others stared at him expectantly. He wondered if they were waiting for some sort of speech until he blinked and a single tear escaped down his cheek. The room erupted in uproar, groans of dismay from Bruno and Delilah and shouts of jubilation from Allison.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

　　"That counts!" shouted Allison. "I told you he`d cry when we asked him, I knew it! You both owe me a drink!"

　　"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Delilah, though she was smiling. "Welcome aboard, Jay. I have some paperwork for you to sign."

　　Delilah hugged him and Bruno dabbed at Jeremiah`s eyes with a handkerchief. Jeremiah laughed. Despite having gone nowhere, he had arrived home.

　　It was a typical evening in the Fortune household. A potato stew on the stove filled the room with an enticing fragrance. Jeremiah was reading on the couch in front of the fireplace, enjoying its warmth in contrast with the dismal rain falling outside. He became dimly aware of the rapid scribbling from where Delilah and Bruno conspired behind a stack of papers. Delilah occasionally paused to consult Gus, who sat on the table

　　"What are you two working on now?" he asked.

　　"Contracts for land sales," said Delilah. "A lot of nobles are having to sell off plots of their land to laborers." Delilah had been spearheading multiple public initiatives in Dramir in the wake of the economic crisis. The foundations of many great and powerful houses had crumbled, and the city was ripe for change.

　　"Land for laborers?" Jeremiah asked. "How can the laborers afford that?"

　　Delilah waved the paper she was working on. "We`ve been doing some community organizing to give people the chance to purchase these plots as a conglomerate."

　　"Oh. Well, that`s nice." Jeremiah didn`t fully follow what she had said, but more people owning land sounded like a good thing. The public education initiative had been more straightforward.

　　"This girl`s doing good work," said Bruno. "Getting the downtrodden organized isn`t easy, but she`s making it worth the effort."

　　"Speaking of which," said Allison, "Do we have any new leads for work? We`re practically downtrodden ourselves." She was curled up on the other end of Jeremiah`s couch with a book about technical fighting.

　　"No leads yet," Bruno said. "Well, I guess there was the one about a dragon. Reward is pretty good. Anyone interested in hunting a dragon?"

　　"Hell no," said Delilah at the same time Allison asked, "What`s it pay?"

　　"Okay, I`ll put that one in the maybe` pile."

　　Allison reached a foot to tap the book Jeremiah was reading. "What`s that?"

　　"Fundamental Principles of Enchanting. If I`m not going to be a necromancer, I should learn to help in some other way."

　　"Cool," said Allison. "Always wanted a glowing sword. What can enchantments do?"

　　"Anything, apparently."

　　"Do we have any new hearings tomorrow?" asked Bruno.

　　"Nope," said Delilah. "We should be done with mandatory meetings for a while. That said, I could always use Jeremiah at some of these events. Your name brings a lot of people around."

　　"I can do that." Jeremiah liked the idea of being able to be useful again. He looked up from his book, taking in the moment. The tattoo of rain against the windows made the fire feel even warmer.

　　Necromancy had started as his escape from a dull provincial existence. It had brought him to the headsman`s block, to infamy and bondage, and eventually to the adoration he`d craved. Maybe Flusoh had been right, maybe one day Jeremiah would take up the mantle of necromancer again, one day after his nightmares had turned back into dreams. But whether or not that day came to pass, he knew family would be beside him.

　　THE END