“You’ll be fine,” Seyari insisted.
I frowned at my reflection in the mirror. Half an hour of deliberation only to decide on no makeup, no horn adornnts, and my hair left untad down my back. “What if I’m too intimidating?”
“You’re not putting mittens on your horns.”
“They’re—”
“Horn socks.” She leaned down and gave a quick kiss on the cheek; reflection- blushed dark crimson. “I know, I just think it sounds… strange.”
I turned away from the mirror and stuck my tongue out. “You can vote to change the na when you get horns. Joisse likes the na so it’s staying.”
“Oh?” she countered with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Shall I collect Sonia and Brynna’s opinions? Maybe Shyll too?”
“They’ll agree with ,” I asserted with more confidence than I felt. When I’d told Joisse this morning, she hadn’t been stifling a laugh, right? Right?
“We’ll see. Right now, your job is to act like your usual amicable self.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go too?” I knew the answer already—and I knew why too.
She sighed and tugged on my shoulders. “Do you want to list the political reasons, or the practical reasons? Now get up.” Dhias, her teeth had gotten sharp.
I stood, and looked down at my clothing one more ti. It felt a little strange to be wearing sothing other than my own magic, but Seyari had allowed this insistence. I wore a simple, warm cloak, blouse, and trousers: unfitting for an insecure noble, but ideal for approachability.
Seyari pulled into a tight hug, wings and all. “You’ll do great, Renna. Go be the nice mom today.”
I took a deep breath, gave her a squeeze and pulled away. “I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will.”
“If that demon from this morning—the one who used to be High Priestess Sylvia—cos back—”
“Stop”—she gave a shove—“stalling. If she cos back into your desne, you’ll know. And if that happens, just throw up a flare in the direction and I’ll go take care of it.”
“And you’ll see if she’s hostile, first, right?”
Seyari stopped shoving , just shy of the door to our room. Her reply ca after a sharp breath and a short delay. “I will, yes. But don’t get your hopes up. If she headed south into Utraxia’s desne, she’s probably going to die.”
“I wish I’d warned—”
“You didn’t owe her anything, Renna. You know that.” Sey stepped in front of and opened the door. “Now go, now. You wanted to do this for your own good and it’d be a damn sha of the one force in this world that could stop you from doing sothing saccharine was your own anxiety.”
I opened my mouth, but a gust of wind stole the words from and shoved out into the hallway. Not a mont later, the door was closed—not slamd, just closed.
“I won’t judge,” Shyll’s voice said from just next to . She had a long duster on a pole and was cleaning the corner of the ceiling. Frankly, it needed it, but I doubted that was why she was here.
“I need to go,” I said quickly. “A-and it’s not a kink… for once! I’m having tea with Joisse’s friends and their parents.”
Shyll shrugged. “I know. I said I wouldn’t judge.”
“Could you stop eavesdropping at least?”
“You’re loud, so no. Ward the room if you care.”
I opened my mouth, felt the heat of a blush, closed it, and walked away. At the ground floor, I t Taava walking down the hall with another pole.
“Oh hey, Boss! You know, I gotta say, this whole ‘play at bein’ a maid for steady pay and good food’ bit’s workin’ out a lot better now that we’ve got food again. Ya goin’ sowhere…” she looked up and down. “Bland? Ya look like ya stepped right out of a background scene in a stage play.”
“In a good way?” I caught myself and looked up at her duster. “Never mind, and Shyll’s already doing the top floor hall.”
Taava blinked. “Yeah, I know. This is the bottom floor, Boss.”
“...Right. Do you two get along now, or…?”
“Don’t you have sowhere to be?”
“I…”
She leaned forward with a conspiratorial smile, ears flat. “Ya wanna talk?”
“No, it’s just that I’m scared I’ll scare the humans.”
“The humans, huh?” Taava snorted.
I didn’t even know if all of them were human. “No, I an the mort—I an—”
Taava laughed and clapped on the side of an arm. “I’m just ssin’ with ya, Boss. Or am I? Anyway, anyone scared by ya’s not gonna stay scared once ya open your mouth.”
“Are you sure? I an, I know I’ve been more… imperious lately, so I guess I’m just worried.” I smiled bashfully.
“Juuust don’t show those teeth on the first etin’.”
I quickly stopped smiling. “Right.”
“Sooo… who’re ya etin’ dressed like that?”
I was about to make up an excuse, but Shyll had probably been eavesdropping ever since I’d gotten back from eting with… Sylvia is probably best to call her. And seeing my daughter for the first ti in (too many) days.
“I’m eting with Joisse’s friends and parents.”
She grinned. “You’ll do great then!”
“Are you certain?”
Taava blinked. “No, but nothin’s ever certain. Except ti and I’ve got a strong feelin’ you’re stallin’ with right now.” She poked with the duster. “So go. I’ve got work ta do.”
I mumbled “right” again and left. The outside air of the courtyard was crisp and refreshing compared to the air inside the castle. My desne cut just enough of the edge off to keep it comfortable. For at least, and what I hoped was comfortable for the… non-demons. So far I’d heard as much through rumors.
I still need to figure out how to tell everyone about my desne.
Another deep breath. Later. For the next few hours, before the ssenger from the king got here officially, before the Church and Berethiel tried to kill , before Envy or Avarice tried to kill , before I had to worry about elves or cecaelia or maybe even dwarves, who knows… before any of that, I was a mom.
It was a warm thought, and feeling. And it carried all the way through town to the house I’d been described, voices inside leaking out into the street. Sure, I could’ve moved through my desne and appeared there in a puff of crimson fire.
Except I was trying to be at least a little normal.
I reached one clawed hand out to the door and rapped twice. Out not up—the door was shorter than I was.
The voices stopped, there was a rush of footsteps, and a young woman I didn’t recognize yanked the door open. She was on the taller side, with ssily cut black hair and mischievous green eyes. And probably about Joisse’s age—or at least what I presud Joisse’s age to be.
For a mont, I had the heart-clenching thought that I’d gotten the wrong house and would have to explain why I was on their doorstep and—
“Co on—Marchioness!?”
I looked down at the door that’d been yanked open, one hand still raised.
The conversation in the room stopped, not abruptly, but petering out into whispers I probably wasn’t supposed to hear. No anger, though, just surprise. And maybe a little wonder?
I realized I was just standing in the doorway, so I offered one of my lower hands, claws dulled.
“I’m Zarenna, Joisse’s mom.” Smile. No teeth.
The girl stared at it for a mont. “Verrka. You’re… the marchioness, right?”
I nodded. “Yes, but right now I’m just here as Joisse’s mom.”
“Oh..” She furrowed her brow and bit her lower lip and reached out. Then she seed to reach a decision and shook my hand with a nod. “Okay! That works! Co on in then Zarenna, Joisse’s mom.” She practically pulled inside, and I moved my tail to close the door.
Unfortunately, I didn’t think to duck and my horns thudded into the doorfra. Verrka’s eyes went wide like she’d made so faux pas, but I laughed it off.
“I swear, it’s the doors that’re too short.” I looked back at the two solid dents. “I can get soone out here to fix that if you’d like.”
“No need,” soone else answered. “Your daughter saved my husband’s life—a dented doorfra’s no problem.”
“And it makes for a good story!” soone I assud was the voice’s husband answered. “No one at the sawmill’s gonna believe .”
Accident or on purpose, I had to admit the clumsy entrance always broke the ice. Hard to be afraid of your nightmare when you watch them trip over their own feet.
Now that I could get a look inside, I saw the two speakers: husband and wife, Verrka’s parents if I had to guess from their similarities. They were looking at with more than a hint of fear, but hiding it well. I couldn’t help but think of how just a week ago, the town was under siege.
Were we all just getting used to that sort of thing?
I looked around instead of getting lost in my thoughts. Their ho was cozy, warm, and so imdiately lived in that I ached for sothing similar of my own. A roaring hearth stood as backdrop to Verrka’s parents sitting by the hearth and a group of teenagers at a table by the kitchen and stairs playing so kind of ga, pieces strewn about the table. One of them was clearly demon-blooded, sporting crimson skin, small horns, and a thin tail wrapped around the leg of the chair she was sitting in. The other was a beanpole of a young man, and he was the only one in the room staring wide-eyed at .
Amongst them, my daughter sohow both stuck out and blended in perfectly. She wasn’t in her human form, and her tail tip flicked nervously as she looked between the world that had been hers alone, and . I wanted to rush over and hug her, but I waved instead. Joisse smiled awkwardly and waved back. Sorry for embarrassing you in front of your friends!
“Hey Joisse,” Verrka started, walking over to the group, “you wanna tell us why you didn’t tell us your mom’s the marchioness just like you didn’t tell us you were a demon?”
“What?” Joisse responded.
“Your mom’s the marchioness.”
Joisse nodded.
“And you didn’t tell us!”
“I wanted to!” She wrung two hands together “I just… it never ca up?”
“What about all the tis we asked?” the boy replied, shaking his head and looking back down at the board. “Hey! You moved my piece!”
“Nope,” the demon-blooded girl replied. “You were there last turn.”
“No, I ended over here because…”
I covered a laugh with one hand and walked over to probably-Verrka’s parents. “Mister and Missus…?”
They gave their nas and I sat down next to them by the hearth. The chair groaned, but not dangerously, and I slipped my tail through the back.
“My daughter saved your life?” I asked Verrka’s father.
He nodded. “In the last attack. There was a group of us in the sawmill. We… well I don’t want to be morbid. I made it out, and your daughter made sure I stayed in one piece after. She saved Tyra’s life, too, though I guess she got a bit more of the magic than I did.”
“I like you without horns, dear. No offense.” Verrka’s mom smiled. “And thank you. Truly. She saved our Verrka and her friend Zeke too.”
Tyra. Zeke. I put faces to the nas.
I chuckled. “None taken. And you said Tyra got more magic?” I looked over, but the four of them were deep into the ga and hadn’t noticed we were talking about them.
He nodded. “She wasn’t demon-blooded before.”
“Oh.” I leaned in to whisper. “I know you’re not her parents, but how does she seem to be taking it?”
“I think she’s—”
“She’s good at hiding it,” Verrka’s mom cut in. “But I think she’s struggling. She only used to co by once a week or so, and now she practically lives here. And I think she’s stressing Zeke out too.”
“How long ago?”
“Almost two weeks, but I don’t count the siege, so one week. Still.”
“Hmm. How about you have the lot of them co by the castle soti? Do you know that new construction going on outside?”
“It’s so kind of guild hall or church chapter building,” Verrka’s father answered imdiately. “I cut so of the lumber for it. Big order, so I imagine it’s sothing big? I’ve seen the Dhias symbol over there when I went to deliver.”
“It’s… adjacent, but not part of the church,” I answered. “At least I don’t think so. There’s a demon-blooded priestess of Dhias heading it, along with her paladin friend and a forr Gelles company rcenary.” I almost stumbled over the word “friend” but just because I had a strong feeling Sonia and Inva were more than friends didn’t an I should just assu. “Her na’s Sonia Rozaro—you might have seen her around town. Red skin, tall horns. She’s my friend’s daughter, and I trust her deeply; she might be able to help.”
“We’ll make sure there’s a day when we need them out of the house for cleaning,” Sonia’s mom answered. “What ti would be best—I know they’re busy with the construction?”
“Morning. Earlier the better.”
The husband laughed. “We’ll see what we can do.”
“Great! If you don’t mind, I have a few questions about my daughter. I assu she’s been behaving herself, but I just want to hear what she and her friends have been up to.” I looked over at the table. “And I don’t want to go interrupt them to ask.”
“Well for one she’s a card shark,” Verrka’s mom replied. “I’ve caught her teaching our daughter how to cheat.”
I opened my mouth but Verrka’s father continued, “We’re not mad! We know our Verrka and she was already trying that kind of stuff since she was little. Best she learns from a friend who knows right and wrong.”
“That’s a relief.” I laughed. “One of my friends must have taught her. Cards at the castle barely involves the deck these days. One of my maids complains that she keeps finding them everywhere. And another keeps gloating about where she’s hiding them.”
At the ntion of maids, both of them stiffened a little.
“One’s a friend who volunteered for the job so she can eavesdrop and poke fun at . And the other’s a friend’s daughter who I’m pretty sure is here to learn so humility.”
If my words mollified them, it wasn’t by a lot. So I quickly steered the topic away to recent events, and we spent the next while chatting about Astrye. Frankly, I learned a lot—always do when I talk to the people who are in the thick of things.
Moreso since the pair grew more comfortable around as the morning waned to afternoon. It was when I was helping them start dinner that soone knocked on the door.
This ti, Verrka’s father answered it. I could hear Shyll’s voice on the other side and my heart sank in the middle of slicing potatoes. With a knife! Claws weren’t the right shape for the cuts and reminding Verrka’s parents of them probably wasn’t a great call. Though the fact I was using all four of my arms to work probably did that anyway.
Sure enough, I found myself at the door, hands still dripping.
“What?” I practically hissed.
“King’s ssenger’s here,” Shyll answered. “Looks like he ran himself half to death. Keeps babblin’ about so standoff in Linthel, so kinda Church declaration, and king’s guard in the pass. You’re probably gonna wanna talk to him and get flyin’ north.”
I blinked. “Are you adopting Taava’s speech pattern?”
She shrugged. “It ticks her off, so yeah. Problem is that it kinda… sticks. So I guess the joke’s on . Anyhow, we need ya… eh-hem. Anyway, your presence is required back at the castle.”
I looked over my shoulder at the lovely ho scene behind , imagining the lovely sll of dinner that would soon be suffusing the room. Mind made up, I turned back to Shyll. Just one evening. “Have Sey see him for . Dinner’s on soon, and I’m going to be learning how to play a board ga that Joisse likes. She’s even going to help pick what class to play, whatever that ans.”
“Are you certain? He insists he’s delivering the will of the king and must see you.”
I showed teeth. “Then he’s going to have to learn all the proper rites for summoning a demon. I’ll return by midnight. And before you complain, rember that I don’t need to sleep.”
Shyll chittered. “You don’t have to tell twice to fly in the face of authority.”
“I’m not giving you permission to.”
She waved the half-threat off. “I know that, I know that. I still rember your threat. You can be real scary when you want to. All the—”
“Shyll, not now. I’m none of that tonight.”
She sighed. “Fine. Mom gets like this too. I’m certain Seyari will be able to handle it. Enjoy your evening, Sovereign.” With a nod, she took off… running. Still in her maid uniform that I absolutely did not require her to wear.
Before I went back inside to cozy warmth and bonding, I took a look up at the moon faint in the afternoon sky. Soon, I’d be off to Linthel, then one battle after another. Whatever it took, I’d fight for monts like this.
User Comments
0 comments from readers