Chapter 195

Sibyl leaned forward on the table. "You're serious? Silva killed the King?" She glanced over at Silva as Bella continued to heal her. "Since the two of you came back together, I assume you aren't too torn up about it... should we be preparing to ditch town?" she asked.

"No," Lorriene said, cutting in. "They're going to be watching for anyone trying to flee now, on top of trying to rein in anyone that had their collars removed with his death. Leaving town would just put a bounty on our heads. It's best to play dumb and show up tomorrow asking for your meeting with Sir Noreth, pretend you never made it yesterday."

Talis was removing the guard's surcoat. "That should work. I talked to Sir Noreth directly before heading over. It's doubtful that he told anyone that wasn't in the room, the King working directly with the head of the guard is rather out of the ordinary."

"How did Noreth die?" Lorriene asked.

Talis glanced at Silva. "She killed him the moment he turned his back to us, caved his skull in somehow. Impressive way to kill someone of such a high level."

Bella started for a moment but then continued to heal her neck as Silva spoke. "I still have some tricks up my sleeve, I burned a temporary enhancement circle." She pulled up the leg of her pants and showed off a bleeding spot on the side of her calf. It took me a moment to realize what she was showing us, the bloody spot was in the shape of a rough circle, below the part of her leg that transitioned into the fur of her rabbit-shaped legs.

Sibyl's brow furrowed. "You... had a ritual circle tattooed on your leg, under your fur..."

Silva nodded. "Temporary speed and physical strength boost. Lasts about a minute. Just enough to catch someone off guard. I don't like using them, it hurts to get them applied and hurts even more to activate them. Plus, once you use one up, you have to get the tattoo all over again."

"Just who are you?..." Sibyl breathed out.

Bella gave me a worried look before reaching down to heal the bloody spot on Silva's leg next.

Silva shook her head. "Not yet. I want Torien to hear it too, but only after we're out of here." She gave me a meaningful look. "Go make sure she's okay... Please."

Raya looked back and forth. "So that's it? Silva committed regicide and we're just gonna hide out and pretend nothing happened? How are we supposed to trust you?"

Sibyl pulled Raya into a hug from behind. "Bastard deserved it... Let's give her the benefit of the doubt for now. We'll talk about this some more when the others are feeling better. Right Silva?"

Silva chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't leave you in the dark anymore. I believe that ship has sailed. I think it's better if things are out into the open now." She turned to the side and looked at Lorriene. "That goes for you too."

Lorriene sighed and shook her head. "Fine. We'll have to relocate first though. I don't think this inn will be safe for much longer. The Tamin paladins are going to tear the slums apart once everyone gets on the same page about the dead king, we'll have to abandon this safe house." She looked over at Talis. "Do you think Sorsette will shelter us?"

Cecilia cut in, "Bad idea, the Great Library is too public, it'll draw too many questions. I have a better idea, we should hide out with the elves, the Northern Greens embassy will hide us if I ask them."

"And who the fuck are you?" Lorriene snapped at her. "Why would the elves give a shit about you?"

Talis coughed. "That's Cecilia of Silvergrove. I can confirm that she has ties to them, she was adopted into their family and is considered an elf by law. The head librarian has told me to look out for her as well."

Cecilia raised an eyebrow at Talis.

"Nothing bad, I assure you. I was merely told to offer you, Miss Raya, and Miss Sibyl Steelglyph membership to the Great Library. You're the only one of the three that had a dossier at the library so I read through it before leaving with Lilith."

"Another Silvergrove?" Lorriene asked suspiciously.

"The two are related," Silva said. "She confessed that she was sent to keep an eye on Lilith for the same reasons we're interested in her."

"You're kidding, the Silvergroves know?"

"Apparently," Silva replied. "Doesn't matter for now, I believe that Cecilia can get us that protection she promised and she's tied to Lilith now, we can trust her."

Lorriene looked at Cecilia cautiously before scoffing. "Fine, I apologize. We'll hide with the elves. We'll need to take these three somewhere anyway. It's only a matter of time before someone notices them missing," she said waving at the two other pantharians and the woman who smuggled them out.

I stood up. "Good, that's sorted. I'm going to go talk with Morrigan and Torien..." I glanced at Bella, she was still working on healing Silva. She had switched to healing the bloody spot on Silva's leg but her neck still needed more work. "Leave them to me, Bella. I'll come get you when I've figured out what's going on."

Bella hesitantly nodded. "Okay. Take care of them for me... I couldn't get them to talk to me at all earlier. It felt like I was just agitating them so I left them alone with Mimi..."

"I will." I started heading over to the stairs when Lorriene waved at me.

Lorriene frowned and absently rubbed her bare neck. "As much as I know you'll probably need the time, I'd like to leave in the night. Please get my nieces back on their feet." I frowned but nodded to her. I wasn't sure what was happening with the twins but it seemed they needed to talk to me, not anyone else.

I climbed the stairs and gently knocked on the door. Mimi felt my presence through the bond and wordlessly asked me to come in. I slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Morrigan was sitting on the bed and had been crying while Mimi held her. Torien froze staring at me, she looked like she had been pacing back and forth in the room. Torien looked like a nervous wreck, anxiety was oozing off of her. I had never seen her like this before.

"...Lilith," Torien whispered. Her hand gripped the space where her collar had been.

Morrigan looked up at me and sniffled but didn't move. She just stared at me with teary eyes.

I glanced over at Torien before sitting on the bed. "Are you two okay?" Of the two it looked like Morrigan was worse off, needed my help first.

Morrigan gripped her throat and shook her head.

Mimi reached over and pulled the armor off of me in an instant and left me dressed in my work outfit then mentally nudged me with her intentions. I scooted closer and slowly pulled Morrigan into a hug. She flinched when I first touched her but she didn't fight me. She let me pull her over and even relaxed into the hug a little bit.

"Morrigan, what's wrong?" I whispered to her.

Morrigan started to cry again, so I just held her there and waited for her to answer. Torien nervously sat down on the bed next to us and hugged her legs to her chest. She didn't say anything but stared at me as I held her sister.

After a few sobs, Morrigan finally whispered something, so quiet I could barely hear, "I'm scared..."

I rubbed her back and rested my head on her shoulder. "What are you scared of?" I whispered back.

Her fingers twisted in my clothes. "Don't... don't leave me..."

I pulled her tighter. "I wouldn't leave you Morrigan. Why would you think that?"

She gripped the space on her neck where the collar had been so tightly I almost worried that she was going to hurt herself. "Someone's always supposed to take care of me... The collar meant that I always belonged somewhere. Without it... what am I supposed to do? How do I know what to do? Who do I listen to?" Her words were interspersed by sobs and her voice cracked every other word.

I looked up at Torien who sat there silently watching me. Tears had formed in the corners of her eyes too but she just watched quietly. My brows furrowed as I looked at her. I reached an arm out and beckoned her to come closer. She looked and my hand and then her ears went back. She looked scared too. Cautiously she got closer and leaned against me. I pulled her into the hug as well and held the two of them against my chest. I didn't really understand. I knew they were hurting but I couldn't tell why this had affected them so much.

"It's okay," I whispered to the two of them. "Even without the collars, I will never abandon you. You can stay with me... with us, for as long as you want, or need to. You don't need to take orders anymore... but I didn't order you around much anyway. Nothing's changed, I still love you, both of you, you're just my friends now, not my slaves."

Morrigan sobbed again and buried her face in my chest. She was shivering and pressing herself against my body. Torien didn't say anything, she just rested her head against me and closed her eyes. All I could do was hold them like that for a while.

After a few minutes, Torien looked up at me and spoke in a whisper. "Lilith, make us succubi. Let us serve—"

"No," I said before she could finish.

Torien's composure broke and she suddenly looked hurt, as if I had slapped her. Tears poured down from her eyes and Morrigan wailed into my chest as she clutched to me desperately.

I pulled Torien back against me. She felt limp in my arms but didn't fight when I pulled her back against me next to her sister. "Neither of you are slaves anymore." My words made them both freeze. "I won't allow you to substitute becoming succubi for slavery. We're friends, and Morrigan, you're my lover. I will never leave you unless you want me to. I will support the two of you for as long as you need. Removing your collars doesn't change anything between us, you are my friends and I will take care of you."

"But..." Morrigan said between sobs, "we're worthless now. No one will be there to protect us. No one will be there to tell us what to do!"

"Shhhh," I whispered, "You don't need anyone to tell you what to do and your value doesn't come from serving others. I didn't love you because you were a slave, Morrigan. And Torien, I don't respect and trust you because you were my slave either. I love the two of you because you're Morrigan and Torien, my friends. Not my slaves. My friends."

Both of the girls were crying now, weeping quietly into my chest as I held them against me. Mimi wrapped around them from the other side, holding them between us. I never asked about how they were raised. Their childhood. I was too afraid, and this was why.

I think I realized where all this was coming from. They were born slaves, raised as slaves, and they were told they would die as slaves. Their entire worldview and sense of self-worth was founded on being slaves. To them, not being slaves made them worthless because that idea must have been hammered into them too deeply. They were afraid of being tossed out like trash. Even Torien, the less emotional and more rational of the two, was scared. Nervous I would abandon them. That I would throw them away after I was done with them. The collars gave them a kind of comfort, it told them that as long as I owned them, they would belong somewhere. Be taken care of. Even if I had sold them or died, someone else would be responsible for them instead.

They were brainwashed into thinking this way. Brainwashed into thinking they didn't have any value otherwise. It made me angry inside but I couldn't show it right now. Vicarious anger wasn't what they needed, they needed comfort and belonging. They needed to know that I wouldn't abandon them, that I valued them outside of their status as slaves. That's how I needed to frame this, how to make them understand.

"I need the two of you, whether you're slaves or not," I told them. They stiffened in response. "You two are my party members. My teammates. I trust you, rely on you two to have my back when we fight. All those times when we fought alongside each other, we were doing that before I even owned you two right? Were you worthless to me then? No. You were worth so much to me I was willing to free you from slavery and take you with me. I didn't even know you couldn't be freed remember? It had been my plan from the beginning. Why would I throw you away? We're partners. I need you to come with me, to help me, protect me. And I'll do the same for you, help you, protect you, whether you're my slaves or not. You're more important to me than that, you're my friends, my family, my partners."

Torien sat up and looked at me. Tears were still streaming down her face. "P-partners?"

I smiled at her, my own tears were wetting my face now, I wasn't sure when they had even started. "Yes, partners. I need you Torien." I turned to look at Morrigan. Her head was still pushed against me but her cute ears were perked up, listening. "I need you too Morrigan. You're my mage, an amazing wild mage that can do more with magic than any other normal mage I've seen. And even if that wasn't true, I would still love you, Morrigan. Because you're an amazing person regardless of that."

She sniffled and looked up at me. She still looked scared but her sobbing had slowed. I reached forward and wiped the tears from her cheek then turned and then did the same for Torien.

"You two are the first friends I made here that didn't owe me anything. You've saved my life probably dozens of times over. So no more crying. It's a good thing the two of you aren't slaves anymore. Trust me, believe in me. Things will be okay."

"Okay," the two of them whispered together.

I pulled them back into another hug.