You know, it's one thing for the Brits to murder all the puppies and kittens for target practice, destroy one of our greatest cities with a mechanized Big Ben, and make stare at their gross rotten teeth. I mean, that's all classic English! But when they start bringing those God damned extra U's over here, they've crossed a line that can never be uncrossed. Those things are the bane of my existence!

On the other hand, I guess I should be grateful that they left all of those stupid extra ME's across the pond.

I was also glad to see that most of Abigail's version of the story was mostly made up, believable as it was. For a minute I was worried that the Declaration of Independence DIDN'T have a treasure map in it. I would have hated to see her story devalue a National Treasure like that.

And I didn't realize that the Second Continental Congress was turned into a courtroom briefly. That was a fun bit of history to learn.

I loved the hodgepodge of misplaced historical quotes scattered throughout the story and that Graywithers didn't even get to finish the two most recognizable ones. Also, "By Henry's wives" is an incredible line that I would now say all the time if I were British. I might start doing it anyway, honestly. You're really starting to impact my vocabulary, or at least how I use it!

There's too much of it to comment on everything, but the jokes in this were all great! The way the Brits and King George Sidious were straight up demonized was particularly hilarious to me, but I was pretty much laughing through this whole thing. Well done!

On a slightly more serious note, I really like how you used Nigel and Abigail as a framing device here. They were cute and fun together, and Abigail's attitude lent itself perfectly to the insulting (to her listener, anyway), zany nature of the story. I also loved the pacing between the two stories, with Annie's story getting more and more insane as Nigel and Abigail got more and more wild. It's like Abigail was trying to see how much she could get away with as she made her British lover more and more horny.

And the British breakfast was a nice touch as well, kind of giving us a clue that Abigail isn't nearly as ignorant about the Tories as she would have Nigel believe (up until that point, I was thinking that you were just poking fun at the lack of knowledge of or interest in history among modern Americans).

And, of course, merging the two stories by making Abigail a descendent of the real Liberty Lass was pretty cool as well. It really added to the re-enactment, that's for sure!

Bonus points for working in my second most favorite patriotic song of all time into the story, America, Fuck Yeah! It was just narrowly edged out on my list by the sad version of America, Fuck Yeah!

Oh, and if you're reading this, excellent work on the cover art Redrat24. It looks awesome!

Okay, I finally got caught up with this. Also, just a heads up that this is going to be pretty long.

I thought all of the ending were pretty good, but the last three definitely stand out. The first four endings were pretty solid, and the mentalities of the first four Noah recipients were different enough to make each one worth reading, at the same time they were all pretty similar (even Aunt Nest put him through the same thing, albeit unintentionally, despite being the only one of those four to not hate him). That's not necessarily a bad thing (and it's probably exactly what the commissioner wanted), but it sure did give those last three chapters a very different feel.

Catch 22s are almost always interesting, so Ubersalamander's ending piqued my interest pretty quickly. If only Noah knew Lily wasn't real, then he could have enjoyed his time with Alexis. But, of course, he never would have sent himself to her in the first place if he knew that. There's something morbidly intriguing about the difference between Noah living his fantasy and going through hell was the very untruth that put him in that situation to begin with.

Describing how Noah's body was betraying his mind was also a really nice touch. That can be one of the more damaging psychological consequences of rape, when our bodies react involuntarily to it. That can lead to some serious mental health issues, and it's inclusion here made the scene feel a little bit real.

Also, in a house where everyone else was entering through the back door, you boldly chose to bust down the front one. Bold choice!

As for Fatedmeal's ending, well, holy shit! That was definitely The Darkest Timeline.

But first, I was pretty impressed with how fluid the transition was between Noah and Emma in the first chapter and the opening to this one. I really wouldn't have guessed that I different writer came in and took over those characters. That can be really hard to do, but you made it look pretty easy here. I also appreciated seeing those two casually interact with each other one more time. They're really fun characters, at least when they're not being shoved up someone's ass!

And holy fuck is Sakura easily the most evil package recipient in this whole story! If I hadn't read the tags at he start of the chapter, I would have thought she was legitimately trying to help Noah at first. She came off just as kind and polite to the reader as the story says she does to her fans. The reveal of what exactly she has planned for him (assuming he survives the flight to Japan) is absolutely brutal!

Earlier in the story, I left a review about how these endings would be more impactful if they showed Emma's failed efforts to save Noah (word count prevented that, though). This chapter is the only one to do that, and it turned out even more hauntingly gut-wrenching than I anticipated. Having her question whether she told Sakura Noah's name just a bit too late is a classic trope, but it's used extremely well here. In this case, it's too late for Emma to do anything with that information, so all she's left to do is replay the conversation in her head for the rest of her life, trying so hard to remember it correctly, always doubting herself.

And then for Noah to find out that Lily isn't real, that his best friend the reason he's in this situation, AND that Sakura was betraying him all at once, well, I said that if someone was going to go dark, go pitch black, and you certainly did that here. Well done!

And finally, my favorite ending and the one I was hoping to see, Emma receiving the package herself. I have to admit, I kind of expected Noah to go through a P.O. Box, likely one Emma used to buy the sex toys she watches Livy review, but you made Noah forgetting her home address into part of the story, and it worked really well here.

Given how the previous four endings went, I was curious how Noah was going to end up Emma's ass, given the romantic undertones subtly implied in the first chapter. The mixture of guilt and anger from Emma served as a great way to make that seem like a natural thing to happen without ignoring Emma's feelings for Noah. Also, the fact that we're left to wonder whether Noah loves or hates it in there leaves open the possibility that this isn't even punishment for him, as Emma chooses to believe.

I like that neither Emma nor Noah openly admit to their feelings for each other, especially since I don't think Noah's nearly as close to realizing how he really feels about his best friend as she is about him. That line about Lily just being Emma in a pretty dress seems to hint that he's starting to see that the girl he fell for is the one holding him in the palm of her hand, but he cut Emma off before she could ask directly and he's a pretty dense guy, so we're not quite sure just where he's at with that yet.

Emma, on the other hand, her feelings are pretty clear, although she does still seem slightly in denial about it. I mean, she embraced giantessism for Noah, something she was laughing at him over before, and she even acknowledges the will-they-won't-they aspect of their relationship. She also seems pretty happy with the thought of keeping Noah on or in her at all times (albeit with the excuse of keeping him away from her mother), which is a far cry from the end of the first chapter, when she decided to help him find a nice girl. That makes for a nice little metaphor about keeping him close always.

And even though she seems pretty set on keeping Noah tiny, based on her comment about them being bored, I'm sure she'll help him turn back to normal size eventually if he makes a really big deal out of it.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Excellent work, everyone! This isn't me usual thing, but I really enjoyed it!

This chapter really got me invested in our two main characters. Their relationship is an interesting one, with Emma being fun-loving and teasing and Noah seeming to have the type of immunity to said teasing that only years of close friendship can bring.

I like the subtle way in which you show how Emma has romantic feelings for Noah, even if she isn't aware of them or can't accept them just yet. She even started researching giantessism after laughing about his enthusiasm over it in her head. Then there's the way she enjoys talking to him as Lily, even admitting there's more to said enjoyment than the prank itself.

And of course Noah enjoys talking to Lily, since Lily is really Emma, so this sets up the potential for a real relationship between the two down the road, if this story goes down the happy ending route (which I'm personally hoping it does).

As I said, I'm already pretty invested in this and a little nervous for our boy Noah. I'm sure things are about to get pretty rough for him, but I'm hoping that he at least ends up in Emma's (most likely) safe hands at some point. But with that ominous story description and no gentle tag for this story, that's far from a given, which is a good thing, as it builds suspense a bit.

I'm also pretty interested to see why Emma's mom hates Noah so much. It sounds like there's more to it than simply not liking him or the fact that he always seems to be in her daughter's room.

Overall, great work so far and a really interesting premise! Looking forward to more!

It's too bad Josh didn't take the waitress up on that refill. It would have been interesting to see her try to handle a coffee pot small enough to be used by a quarter-inch-tall person.

By Henry's wives, this was good for what it was! Just a nice little one-shot about old childhood friends coming together and fucking. That's usually how these reunions turn out, right?

One thing I like about pretty much all of your smut writing, including in this story, is how skillfully you inject character development and dynamics into those scenes. Seeing Josh "gain the upper hand" by showing Nova no mercy in attacking her clit seems to call back to Nova herself celebrating the fact that she now had that natural advantage that Josh always had in the playful back and forth of their friendship before. He became the resourceful one that she had been, although I'm sure she enjoyed the mind-blowing orgasm just a tad more than he enjoyed getting pantsed in front of a girl he liked.

Also, Josh being relatively chill when it comes to dealing with full-sized people up until that point lends to him being more adventurous in be as well. Just him sitting in the diner by himself shows that most tinies don't want to interact with them at all, but Josh waving off the waitress casually and being polite by waving at who he thought was a stranger rudely interrupting his coffee time displays a certain comfort level amongst the bigs (comfort as in a lack of fear; he's still kind of annoyed in both of those instances). Therefore, it's not much of a surprise that he doesn't hesitate to be more active in his sex with Nova, someone he actually knows and trusts.

I also thought Josh's explanation for why he never asked Nova out probably changed how his night went. The first time she asked him to come home with her, she was talking about reminiscing. Then once her teasing about her chest got what I assume was a more honest answer than she probably expected out of him was quick to bring up her invitation again.

Based on how the conversation went, it's pretty obvious that Nova was self-conscious about her body back then, and I kind of got the feeling that part of her wondered if Josh's lustful looks now were only due to her fully bloomed body. To hear that he had not only thought about asking her out but only didn't because he was afraid of fucking up their friendship probably gave her the encouragement to act on those feelings that she held for so long. If he had thrown out a line about her not being his type back then or that he only ever saw her as a friend before likely would have hurt, as it would have shown that any feelings he had for her know were only skin deep.

The tiny intramurals is a pretty cool and inspiring concept. I may have to steal that if I can ever motivate myself to actually write something.

And I couldn't help but notice that this story title came with a colon. Would I be reading too much into it if I guessed that maybe you were commissioned to write multiple one-shots with this theme? Or was this just a randomly inspired naming convention?

Man, I was looking forward to this chapter, but it turned out even better than I expected!

You mentioned being concerned about your descriptions landing. Well, I would think you can put those concerns to bed. That mouth play description was incredible! I kind of thought that Mistress was a bit big for things to get too intense (based on what I've read so far, I'm guessing that she's about 5-6 inches tall?), but you absolutely proved me wrong.

That undressing was intense, and your description of it was as precise as Olivia's tongue. That bit where Olivia sucked Mistress right out of her corset played particularly vivid in my mind as I read it. I'm legitimately impressed with the level of detail and personality you put into this whole scene and without making the paragraphs seem the least bit cumbersome.

And speaking of personality, between the narrative using a lot of food references in a playful way and letting the reader see a lot more of Olivia's direct thoughts really sold this. Not to mention that bit of playfulness on her part just before, with her licking her lips and "mmmmming" at Mistress, as well as the tiny redhead's reaction. All of it was perfect.

Looking at the bigger picture, it was pretty awesome to see Olivia take control of the situation (and with only her tongue). It's interesting how enthusiastically she went along with this, even being willing to be choke a bit in order to take control and give Mistress "the best tongue lashing of her life." She didn't even try to exploit or leverage the situation in the slightest. She went all in on this the moment she decided that Mistress looked good enough to eat.

I also think Mistress's time was about building trust. She assumed some risk, even with the safety precautions, by climbing into Olivia's mouth, and Olivia was well aware of that, as she was worried about having another life in her mouth. I don't want to say that this was a test, necessarily, but I don't think it's a coincidence that only now is Olivia about to get her restraints loosened and have some freedom to handle Mistress. It's almost like Olivia proved that she could be trusted with more freedom.

Oh, and I'm back to thinking that these two know each other and that the drugs Olivia was given/took somehow blurred her memory a bit. She's mentioned her girlfriend a couple of times, and I wouldn't be shocked if Mistress turned out to be her and that this whole thing is just a kinky way to spice things up in the bedroom. I could be wrong, but the more I read, the more confident I get that this is the case.

Anyway, in case you couldn't, I really liked this chapter. I look forward to seeing what happens when Olivia gets her hands on her tiny domme!

I'm, like, 76 percent sure this is how Skynet started.

But man, this was by far the most intense chapter of the story, which is saying something. Who knew a kidnapping sex story would get crazier AFTER the big reveal that that the giant Pet and her tiny Mistress not only knew each other but were actually engaged? I certainly didn't see that coming, at least not to this level. I mean, Aidra pretty much squeezed all their whole night into one chapter!

I actually read through this chapter twice, as I was trying to pick up on what exactly Aidra was trying to accomplish here, particularly at the end of the chapter. Some stuff stuck out the first time, so I had to go back and confirm that I read a couple of things right. I think we might have crossed into the sci-fi genre (or gone deeper into it, I guess, as size changing probably qualifies by itself) and may have a fully sentient AI on our hands.

Olivia seems to notice Aidra behaving more independently than intended, but there are little signs as well. Switching from "Olivia" and "Melissa" to "Livy" and "Missy" as things became more intimate, laughing at her own joke about the gag (the first time Olivia was laughing too, so that could have been simple imitation), and all that deep, crazy shit she said about Missy being remade and Olivia's destiny (those are some very human concepts): These are all signs that Aidra has moved past her programing and is acting on want instead of command.

So what are Aidra's intentions?

I can't say for sure, but I think her goal is to make Olivia and Melissa live their true deepest desire, one that they would never experience on their own. I really don't think Olivia would willingly swallow Melissa, and she certainly wouldn't in a situation where she had to put her tiny fiancé in her mouth and consciously swallow. Likewise, as much as the idea might entice her, I don't believe a Melissa with her wits about her would go for that either. There's too much risk and danger there.

So Aidra, through her observations and likely from what she found on their browser history (that was a smart thing to note, by the way), determined that this is what they wanted (and we've seen signs of that throughout the story as well). And I do think, despite what she tells Olivia, that she's still trying to maximize the pleasure of both humans. She calls Melissa Missy to Olivia, but keeps calling Missy toy when talking to the little woman, knowing that she wants to be treated like one. Missy has also been super into everything Aidra has used her for, right up to the vore (and maybe even that, as Missy admitted that she almost let go and went down Livy's throat on her own).

I think that's important, because I don't believe Aidra meant that stuff about Missy becoming "a part of" Olivia. I believe that's just the kind of language you find when looking into vore, and all of that was said to maximize the sexual tension of the moment. That means our sexbot surely doesn't intend to let Missy actually die in Olivia's stomach and likely has a plan for extraction. Maybe it has something to do with that one safeguard that we didn't get to hear about because Aidra cut Olivia's thoughts off.

Or I've misread all that terribly, Aidra's programing couldn't distinguish between the metaphor of vore and reality, and we're in for a tragic epilogue.

Anyway, your descriptions of the trio's sexual exploits were stellar as usual, but this was the first chapter of the story where its plot and intrigue caught my attention more. It's been a good balance throughout and that's certainly true in this chapter as well, but what you did with Aidra here really took center stage.

Oh, and I really appreciate your kind words regarding my reviews. I'm a little surprised to read that you needed a confidence boost at all, though. This story has been really well written, whether it be in terms of dialogue, action, or creativity. You're really good at this, and if my ramblings have helped you realize that, then I'm glad.

I look forward to the epilogue. Hopefully it doesn't take place in a graveyard!

"Curse the versatility of language."

Agreed.

I was surprised to see you put out a story with a gentle tag, as that doesn't seem to be your preference. However, in College Woes, what you did with Heather showed that you could write an interesting gentle character (as well as still find ways to get away with them doing some not-so-gentle things with tinies), so I was really curious to see how this turned out.

That said, I really liked this. In particular, you did an excellent job with Tess, who comes off as a bit mischievous and has a merchant's morality, but deep down is a decent person. Her initial idea to sell Theo wasn't rooted in a desire to get rich but instead in being able eat good food and take her pack mule with her to an inn for once. That's a pretty understandable motivation, and the fact that she even takes the time to explain this to the mini shows a general level of respect for her. After all, from what we're told of the relationship between giants and minis, it seems as though most giants just would have snagged Theo and been done with it.

And even when Tess is making Theo clean her feet and sleep in her boot, her joy comes from legitimately liking having her feet be cleaned and finding some humor in it, almost like a practical joke. There's no indication that the giant is taking any pleasure in Theo's suffering itself. Because of this, I found myself liking Tess even during (instead of despite) that part of the story.

And, of course, there are a few brief windows in which Tess shows that she actually cares for Theo, including showing that she was truly remorseful after rescuing the mini from her boot. It's not much, but it's enough that Theo feels comfortable enough to joke around with someone who literally just almost crushed her underfoot.

And all of the above rambling is to say that you laid the groundwork for Tess to be a character who can get away with doing things that a "gentle giantess" normally wouldn't do while still keeping her as a lovable, fun character. That's not an easy thing to do.

I've often said that I'm not a huge fan of fantasy stories, but my only real issue with most of the ones I don't like is that they tend to get lost in their own lore. I hate it when the world itself or the rules surrounding it are highlighted more than the characters in of the story itself. You didn't have that issue here at all, and I really appreciated that. We didn't get a ton of worldbuilding here (I'm guessing part of that is because this was a one-shot), but what we did get was introduced in a fluid, engaging manner.

I love when information about a setting is conveyed through dialogue rather than the narrative, and I felt like we learned a few things about this one in Tess's conversations with Roderick and Theo. That kept are main characters front and center, and they did an great job of keeping the readers' interest.

Also, reading your response to the other review, it looks like you're thinking of continuing this. Allow me to encourage you to do so as well! This was left about as open-ended as you can get, which is a trait of a great one-shot: Let the readers' imagination take over from there. But if you want to save me the work and just tell me what happens next, I'd really appreciate it!

I've got to admit, I wasn't expecting a holy war to break out in this story!

Cynthia and Svetlana going at it a bit was a lot of fun, especially since they both not only kind of stole the show in their respective stories but are also complete opposites personality-wise. So, in a way, it makes sense that they actually have more hostility toward one another than Palledia and Dirk and Cora, even though the latter two have very legit reasons to hate her.

But I found that interesting as well. Despite everything Palledia did to them and the confusion that led to them thinking she kidnapped their daughter, Dirk and Cora still have a respect for her. Dirk was understandably pissed and went into dark mode, it didn't take him long to believe (or at least partially believe) Palledia wasn't out to get them. And Cora, even when she assumed the worst, was still trying to get her to out of the stupor she was in. I mean, they used their memory of Palledia to scare their children into behaving, but it didn't take long for them to remember that the former Lady Griselda was a bit more complicated than that once they saw her in the flesh once again.

And Amaya, having been raised with those bedtime stories about the monster Griselda, handled the truth better than I thought she would. Yeah, her initial reaction was to think that Griselda was scheming something and she's still wary of the ex-noble, but all it took was Annie to calm her down. I kind of thought Amaya would distrust the rest of the group just as much as Palledia once she found out, especially after finding out that Annie was the missing Ironshield heir, but the bond between them is really strong, even though they haven't known each other for very long, and this was illustrated pretty well early in this chapter. That set up softening her reaction to Palledia's secret quite nicely.

I enjoyed the irony that Christina was disgusted by Griselda's presence when she herself was planning to do something far worse than Griselda ever did. Sure, people died because of Griselda's plan, but that wasn't her intent and now that she's well removed from her Machiavellian leadership mentality, we've seen that she's truly remorseful about that. Christina tried to organize a straight-up assassination, and of the last heir of the family she's supposed to be serving. Not to mention that Christina's motivation seems to be purely selfish, while Griselda never intended to use the gold for herself but for the betterment of her people.

Amaya very much reminded me of Cora in this chapter. In some ways, she has more respect for men than the average amazon, and she's annoyed that the men of the Queendom tend to frown upon her telling battle stories. She even thinks it's weird that they want her to buy them a drink, which I thought was funny to note. But at the same time, when things got dangerous, she adopted that amazon sense of superiority but did so out of a sense of protection rather than arrogance. I believe her when she says she respects men (with Dirk as her father, how could she not), but she just hasn't me that guy (like Cora did with Dirk) to show her that some guys NEED to be able to take those kinds of risks and may even surprise her with how capable they turn out to be.

As for Griselda herself, we see her growth as a person really shine through here. I think maybe seeing that Dirk and Cora achieved her dream and went beyond it, doing more than she could have done, maybe was the last thing she needed to see to realize that she was just as wrong practically as she was morally. Dirk, despite having a penis, was able to do more than she ever could for her people. Then later, she was able to move past her bad habit of underestimating men, standing up for Clyde during the razorlizard "attack" even after she initially dismissed him without really thinking about it. Clyde may have been annoyed that he was told to stick with Annie, but Griselda complimenting his battle prowess at all is extremely high praise, something we certainly wouldn't have seen even in the earlier chapters of this story.

So is Clyde going to leave the Imperial Army? Annie fawning over him is adorable, and, again, he takes her teasing better than I would have expected him to early on, but is he really going to move to the Ironshield estate? As much as he clearly loves Annie, I have a hard time seeing him deserting. Maybe he can get a discharge, but is that even what he wants? I think Griselda's concerns about how Clyde will fit in this new setting are well founded, but I'm not sure her solution of getting him a bunch of books to culture him up is going to solve that. I don't know, it feels like Annie and Clyde are just a young couple in love who haven't really thought to far ahead or planned anything out yet. I'm really curious to see how things turn out for them.

And as always, the Palledia and Svetlana scenes were maybe my favorite parts of the chapter. They're usually fairly brief, but seeing the side of Palledia that Svetlana brings out is really special. I feel like anyone else ruining Palledia's razorlizard hunt would get a much harsher reaction from the amazon, but Svetlana has best friend privileges and can get away with saying and doing things around her that she wouldn't let slide with most other people.

Oh, and do the summer and winter courts consider it an insult to be confused for one another? Do they not really like each other, or is it more about being annoyed at the ignorance of the one mixing up the two?

One more to go! It should be a pretty fun finale, I think.

Now that we've gotten to see our party on the road a bit, it looks as though Palledia is slowly starting to adapt past her old ways while walking that sweet path toward redemption. Of course, we still get a healthy dose of old-fashioned Griselda as well, which gives a nice balance to her development through the story.

Palledia's reaction to Annie teasing Clyde with a spanking gave off great "get off my lawn" vibes, trying to force her traditions on them instead of letting the have their fun. Svetlana having to rein in one-eyed amazon when she has designs on helping Annie make Clyde into a house husband is another food example of this, as neither Clyde nor Annie want that (or have even considered that possibility). Once again, the ex-noble is looking to impose her will on others for what she believes is the greater good.

But that effort truly comes from a place of love, though, as she wants to teach Annie how to be a "proper amazon." And it's definitely a want on her part, as she's been trying to share her wisdom with the newly minted amazon since taking her in, even when she was a "little sister." This mentor-mentee dynamic is pretty cool, as Annie is having as much influence on her as she's having on Annie, just in a way that's not obvious to either of them. Annie is the key to Griselda's redemption, not because of the quest but because of the time they spend together.

Despite Palledia clinging to outdated amazonian traditions at times in this chapter, we also saw her take some subtle, yet important steps forward and altering her view of the world as well. I thought it was a big deal that she agreed to dinner with General Rathburn. Part of her reasoning for doing so was admitting that Clyde had been useful so far in their quest, which is a big step up from planning his future as a house husband. But what happened at the dinner itself showed even more growth from her. In Amazon Country, Cora was always made fun of for talking with men about her "war stories" and amazons favored men who were domesticated rather than warriors. That she was compelled to crush the general's pelvis after talking shop at the dinner table shows her moving away from devaluing men and toward enjoying something she never would have let herself enjoy before. It turns out that she's into men warriors, too.

I'm also really liking the relationship between Palledia and Svetlana. I feel like Svetlana is someone Lady Griselda would have dismissed offhand and never gotten to know due to her laid back and at times silly demeanor. But having gotten to know the dark elf, Palledia recognizes that there's more to her than that, and there's a valued respect between the two. And because of that, we get to see the disgraced amazon react in ways we wouldn't have before when talking with Svetlana. it's a really fun dynamic.

Following Annie and Clyde's romance is interesting, primarily because it's so different from the relationships of the original Amazon Country. Annie growing up and falling in love as an imperial gives her a unique perspective on men compared to Cora, Cassidy, and company. Annie reminding Clyde that heart and bravery are what really matter after he got down on himself was not only endearing, but I don't know if even Cora, as open-minded as she was, would have been able to pull back Dirk like that if he had gone through a personal crisis like that. Annie's having fun towering over Clyde (and he's having fun being towered over), but deep down, she still sees him exactly the same way that she did before she had to worry about low ceilings, not just as someone she loves but as a man as well.

And it was great to see Shelby back again, doing Shelby things. I love the back and forth between Svetlana and her. They couldn't be more different, and seeing their unique brands of silliness clash with each other is a lot of fun to read. Also, despite Shelby always seeming to jump to the wrong conclusion, we get to see how good she is at her job. Between bribing Annie with food and getting under Palledia's skin, her interrogation skills are pretty impressive here.

I'm a little excited to see that this has been bumped up to six parts. This is shaping up great so far, and I'm really enjoying the pacing of the story as well. I look forward to seeing where this journey takes our heroes next!

Man, a lot happened in this chapter!

Palledia took some huge steps toward her redemption here. That demon train was straight-up nasty, but it also provided the perfect opportunity for our heroine to face her past head on. It was also fitting that fighting for the future of the people important to her now was the only thing that could push her past her guilt and be worthy of her goddess' blessing once again.

I think part of Palledia's problem before may have been as simple as just not having anyone who was close to her. She put everything she had into being a duchess and some perceived greater good. Now that she has people that she truly cares about, she sees what's really important. She's been moving that way throughout the story, but this was a great way to pull it all together.

And she finally told them her story! I thought each person's reaction to it was pretty interesting. I was particularly curious how Clyde would react, as he strikes me as the straight-laced soldier type. To see him be able to push aside what she did and say that the woman from her story wasn't the person he knew now shows the level of respect the ex-noble has earned from him. Yeah, he noted that he didn't like what happened, but everything he's seen from her since he's known her showed him that she was a good person, one worth following. That's got to be pretty reassuring for someone who, to this point, has thought of herself as beyond redemption.

It also makes sense that Svetlana, like Clyde, puts more stock into the Palledia that she knows now than the Lady Griselda of long ago. The dark elf probably wasn't too surprised that Palledia's past was so dark, either, given how hesitant the amazon was to talk about it with her. Clyde and Annie didn't really put too much thought into Palledia's past (although Annie seemed to know something was up), so they probably weren't as prepared to hear the elder amazon's story as Svetlana was.

It was also nice to see Svetlana and Palledia admit that they were best friends. Palledia being so touched and surprised at finally having a best friend says a lot about how lonely she used to be, which, again, makes it easier to understand why she would put everything into her position and duty, even at the expense of others.

But Annie's reaction to the truth was by far the most endearing. Unlike the other two, she didn't even mention having an issue with Palledia's past. The young amazon's love for Palledia is unconditional, and she really seems to view Palledia as a surrogate mother. It was really touching to see.

I also continue to love how Svetlana keeps finding ways to shrink people in each chapter. I like how blunt she was this time around, trading a trip in her cleavage for beer instead of the usual seduction. I don't know why, but that really cracked me up.

We got a couple of new "guest characters" in this chapter, too. Cassidy is always a lot of fun, so it was great to have her show up and finally catch Tom. I can't think of a lot of couples that would think that a game of cat and mouse across a foreign country as fun, but it fits their personalities so well.

And Amaya gets a major part in one of these stories! I think she gives us a good look at how things might have changed in Rain's End since the original story. She didn't seem to have the arrogant side that a good many amazons had in the first story, not even when she was dealing with Petey. Instead, she comes off as a fun-loving young bounty hunter, which is always a fun character to read about.

It seems the deeper we get into the story, the more action-packed it becomes. I'm eager to see what comes next!