“We had to,” I said.

The two sous chefs ignored us. One was a juvenile Quillonian, who looked like a smaller version of Orro, and the other was an auroch, a five-foot tall, russet-furred being with delicate appendages, a vaguely antelope face, and four horns crowning her head. Like Quillonians, aurochs had a ridiculous number of tastebuds. They had evolved as herbivores and had to distinguish between toxic and non-toxic plants by taste.

“Where did you get them?” Tony asked.

“Orro went to see his mentor,” Sean said. “Apparently, Chef Adri called for reinforcements from some fancy culinary academy, which promptly fell over itself to participate.”

“I bet,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “That is one hell of a guest list. Any new chef would want that on their resume. I’m surprised they didn’t have a fight.”

“Oh, they did,” Sean said. “Once they realized there were only two open spots, there was a spectacular brawl. Those two are the winners.”

The auroch looked like she couldn’t hurt a fly. Looks could be very deceiving.

Chef Adri also sent a plating specialist from his personal restaurant, a Vaskebiorn, who, contrary to the innkeeper nickname for their species, didn’t look like a raccoon except for her hands. She looked like an odd, yet devastatingly adorable hybrid of a fox, squirrel, and monkey with short golden fur, and her dexterity was off the charts. Her name was Droplet, and she and Orro had already clashed twice. He tried to bully her by raising his quills, and she smacked him on the nose with a pastry bag.

We passed the kitchen and came to one of the dining areas. Sean and I had built three in total, and this one was called the Ocean Dining Hall. It was a large rectangular room. Three of its walls were pale cream stone, tastefully decorated with a carved relief along the ceiling. The fourth wall opened onto a terrace that overlooked an alien sea, an endless shallow ocean with water the color of deep orange honey under a purple sky.

“Kolinda?” Mr. Rodriguez said, studying the jagged dark mountains in the distance that thrust from the water like the fins of some massive beast. “An interesting choice.”

“It’s a reminder,” Sean said. “We can throw them into that sea at any time.”

Tony smiled.

I picked the nearest table, and we took our seats. The chair molded to my body as it accepted the weight. Taking a nap would be so nice right now.

The nearest wall split, and the inn deposited a platter of small colorful snacks and four glasses and a pitcher of iced tea onto the table. Orro would never let a visitor go hungry.

Tony helped himself to a tiny emerald-green doughnut and chewed with obvious enjoyment.

“Are you here to deliver a cease and desist?” I asked.

Mr. Rodriguez heaved a deep parental sigh. “No.”

Oh good.