Chapter 135: A Proposal

Even with everyone inside all at once, our room at the Knight’s Rest wouldn’t be a tight fit. Despite that, I admittedly preferred the cozy atmosphere of the small room Sey and I shared briefly in the mountain town where we had Myrna’s cart repaired.

I glanced around at the opulent furnishings and four-poster bed as I entered with Kartania and Joisse. This room certainly wasn’t bad, though. Once Seyari returned with Nelys and Taava, we’d be talking about our next plans. Without a doubt, I’d push to stay until I could have a proper conversation with Bourick and introduce everyone. By that same token, I had two other sovereign demons out for me, and a king who might well not be quite so hands-off as he portrayed himself.

Tying Bourick even more strongly to me could be a risk. Worse still, the Sovereign of Envy might already have more than enough reason to go after the innocent old smith.

He’d want to know, right?

“Are you alright, Renna?” Joisse whispered, closing the door gently behind us. She glanced over warily at Kartania, my paladin sister eyeing Joisse with intense suspicion.

I started to nod, then stopped myself. “Not really, no. But I will be—I hope.”

Joisse nodded sagely. “Me too.” Again, her red eyes locked with Kartania’s, and I knew now that I had to say something.

With a quick glance to confirm that the door was fully closed, I introduced the other wrath demon. “Tania, this is Joisse, a good… relation of mine and a wrath demon like me.” Both of them stiffened, but the reason I stopped is because I almost called Joisse my daughter. But she is my friend! But also… not now.

“Joisse,” I continued, pulling the still-human-guised demon’s side against mine, “this is Kartania Miller, my sister.”

Joisse looked up at me with wide eyes for a second, and then looked back and forth between us. “That’s why you looked so similar! From what you told me about her, I wasn’t quite sure, but I knew you were meeting up and figured ‘who else could this be?’ that… Zarenna trusts so much?”

Why did Joisse stumble over her words there?

“She is also a wrath demon?” Tania said, looking Joisse up and down.

Joisse nodded. “Zarenna gave me my human transformation when I took her contract.”

“Contract?” Kartania tensed, narrowing her eyes at me. “Zarenna, explain. Now.”

“I’m the Sovereign of Wrath. Joisse was lost to her wrath from the chaos of her amalgam soul, and I took a chance to see if I could help her.”

Joisse nodded.

Tania didn’t seem convinced. “The Sovereign of… Wrath. You’re remarkably in control if that’s the case, sister.”

“Not you too!” I grunted, and started to undo the top button of my blouse. “And I’m trying to be the sovereign over wrath, not controlled by it. I already told you that the way I became a demon was different from most.”

“You did…” Kartania stared at my hands working their way through the second button on my top. “I assume your symbol and gem are near your sternum?”

“Yes.” I gave a relieved nod.  “So many people make this more awkward than it needs to be.”

“So many people… Who else have you told?”

I pulled fabric aside just enough to show my symbol and its crimson-green gem. “Close friends and Bourick.” I felt a twist in my stomach at the thought. Have I already put him in danger?

“Hmm. Well, we should assume the information that you are the Sovereign of Wrath is going to be out there. I didn’t know, but I suspect someone else does.” Kartania finally moved from standing to sit at the room’s table.

Joisse sat meekly down across from her.

“Someone else?” My tail cramped as I took the third plush-backed seat.

“High Priest Styon. He told me you’d gotten involved in all this, and gave me a hint toward Mordwell’s plans. Styon’s actually the reason I’m here right now.”

“Yevon… Damn. I don’t know what his motives are.” Slumping forward, I rested my head on my upper arms, my lower pair fixing their sleeves. “Does that mean you know where Mordwell’s gone? Is it to the south?”

“I only have a good guess, but south of here is it.” Kartania hissed. “I don’t know High Priest Styon’s motives either. I think he’s up to something, but I also think he wants Mordwell gone, not that I should believe anything he says.”

“Is he known to be a liar?” My voice came out a little muffled.

“He’s known to be secretive and eccentric. Among high priests, he’s an odd one, but he’s also known for taking a progressive stance when it comes to Church doctrine.”

“If that’s the case, why do you sound like you don’t like him?”

“He rubs me the wrong way. I’m good at figuring out when someone is disingenuous.”

I lifted my head a little. “So you think he’s disingenuous?”

Kartania barked a short, sarcastic laugh. “No, I can’t read him at all. That makes me even more worried. Why obfuscate if you’re not hiding anything.”

I closed my eyes. “Tania…”

“What?” she snapped.

“I am so, so sorry for everything you’ve had to go through. If I hadn’t popped out of a volcano on the other side of the damn world, I would’ve been here years earlier.”

“You popped out of a volcano?” Joisse interjected, leaning over the table, her face close to mine.

I looked away, still resting on my arms. “Yeah. That island… I learned some stuff I guess. But there was food and water and aside from boredom and concern, it really wasn’t that bad.”

“A volcano,” Kartania repeated. “Wouldn’t you burn up?”

“Immune to excessive heat.” I turned to glance back at both of them. “At least I haven’t found anything hot enough to hurt me yet, although the lava was definitely uncomfortably warm.”

Kartania whistled. “Just how strong are you?”

I forced myself to sit up. “I don’t really know, to be honest. Weaker than the other sovereign demons, probably. I know I’m weaker than Lust and Apathy, and I assume I’m also weaker than Conceit. No idea about Avarice or Envy.”

“Yes, but how strong?”

“I don’t know,” I repeated. “There was a lot I didn’t know back in the island, I was scared of what I could do, and these days there are always innocent people around.” My mind flashed back to that horrible night in Lockmoth. “I’m not going to risk hurting someone innocent.”

Kartania closed her eyes and sighed. “I’m going with you to the south.”

“What?” both Joisse and I jumped to look at my sister.

Kartania folded her arms, armor-to-armor. “I said, I am going with you to the south. And before I can do that, we are going to go out into the wild lands south of the old fort, by the old pass, and we are going to see what you can do when you go all out.”

I blinked. “Why?”

“To practice. Dhias, Zarenna, how can you be so dense?”

“I’ve been practicing. I’m learning how to use a spear and shield for when I have to fight like a human, and I… I practice my magic!”

Kartania shook her head. “Not good enough. What will you do if something truly terrible attacks you or those you love? Will you unleash everything and hope it works?”

Hesitantly, I nodded.

“What if it’s not enough. What if you overdo it?”

Again, I thought back to Lockmoth, the night of the raid. I’d never tried a spell quite like what I’d done. What if it had gone wrong? What if I’d failed to do it? I glanced down at one of my clawed hands resting on the table and flexed it. I’m even stronger now.

“I understand,” I replied eventually. “How about tomorrow?”

“How about tonight?”

Again, I thought about the crater. If I do anything bigger than that… “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“I want to go too!” Joisse announced. “I know I’ve been getting better with my anger, but I’m also getting afraid I’ll lose control more, like I’m just bunching it up sometimes and it wants to break free.”

“Then it’s decided,” Kartania announced with a worrying gleam in her eye. “We’re all going out to train tonight!”

“Wait, but I—"

“No buts,” Kartania tutted. “If we leave now we can put at least one hill between us and the city.”

“But that might not be—”

“Sister,” Tania cut me off with a warning.

Before I could try to clarify that this might be a terrible idea, a key turned in the lock, and we all looked expectantly at the door.

Taava entered first, mid-pun—something about snow and cheeks. Seyari followed her, unamused frown accompanied by an eye roll that made me think the pun was something I should be sad about missing out on. Nelys followed the pair, giggling.

Unlike Taava in her riotous display of frills that seemed to change whenever I looked away, Nelys was wearing a new, thick, dark blue coat clearly made with the weather in mind. Seyari carried a similarly thick coat, hers a dark off-gray.

“Found a place that’ll make ya a good coat fast, boss,” Taava chirped. “Seyari told ‘em your sizes and they didn’t believe us.”

“They might have if you hadn’t insisted we were getting a coat for an ogre,” Seyari grumbled.

“Yeah!” Nelys agreed.

“Hey!” Taava spun on a heel and plopped down on our bed, clothes and all. “Your whole ‘four arms—wait never mind’ bit was way more suspicious.”

“Was not!”

Joisse snorted, then gave in and started giggling uncontrollably. Kartania wore an expression that, from my memories of a much younger sister, could best be described as “failing to look serious.”

Seyari sighed, but she failed to fully hide her smirk. She also can’t hide that she’s not got a shred of anger in her. The half angel nodded her head at Kartania and closed the door behind her. “The two goofballs are Taava and Nelys. Taava’s the one with cat ears and Nelys is the one with a good sense of humor.”

Taava propped herself up on her elbows and stuck her tongue out at Seyari defiantly, before cocking her head at Tania. “So you’re Zarenna’s sister, huh? I guess I can see it—weird that ya got Seyari’s coldness ‘fore they’re even married.”

Kartania blinked at the irreverent Kazzel. “That is absolutely not how that works.”

“It ain’t? Crap, I think I owe somebody a silver somewhere.”

That last line finally got me and I laughed. “What’s got you three in such a good mood?”

Nelys brightened. “We saw a ton of the city today! I won a snowball fight against Taava, and I found out that there are still a lot of flowers around here, even in winter. Best of all, the tailor’s shop we went to had a coat in my size that someone’d defaulted on!”

“Did Taava try to cheat?”

“Pfft, I cheated better.” Nelys hopped up to sit on the edge of the bed next to Taava. “It’s nice to meet you, Renna’s Sister.”

“Oh, right!” I snapped two clawed fingers. “Taava, Nelys, this is Kartania Miller, my sister. You’ve already met, but the gorgeous half-angel is my fiancée, Seyari.”

Nelys waved and Taava smiled. Seyari waved again and sat down across from me at the table’s one remaining seat.

“So, uh, we gettin’ a religious warrior type now?” Taava asked.

Kartania raised an eyebrow. “I am not defined by my affiliation.”

Taava smirked. “Ooh, I like her!”

My sister grimaced and turned to me. “Are you certain your companions are, well, to be blunt, capable? I assume Seyari is, but what of the others?”

“We can find out at training tonight, right?” Joisse answered for me, eagerness evident in her voice.

“Training tonight?” Seyari asked.

Kartania nodded. “If we leave soon, we should be able to get to a secluded spot for Zarenna to test the full extent of her powers.”

Seyari balked. “Kartania, Zarenna can be overly modest a lot of the time. I don’t know that it’s a good idea—”

“Sorry Seyari, but not capable? Are we just gonna ignore that and move on?” Taava said, real anger creeping into her voice and tensing her shoulders.

Seyari blinked owlishly at Taava, mumbling “she apologized?” quietly to herself.

Kartania nodded slowly. “I do not mean offense. However, Zarenna and Joisse are both greater demons and Seyari is a half-angel. We will be fighting not only those who consort with demons, but the demons they consort with, or have under binding.”

Nelys glared, before lowering their head.

“What about you, ice princess?” Taava hissed, the hair on her tail bristling.

“Hmph.” Kartania smirked. “I am, as a graduate recognized by the Academy of Dhias in Ardath, the youngest master of ice magic in the Empire.”

Taava was nonplussed. “A good blade does a lotta work, Icy.”

Kartania narrowed her eyes. “Is that a threat?”

Gently, I slammed a hand down on the table, only barely denting the finely-polished wood. “Sister, please do not question the competence of my allies without merit.” I turned to a smug-looking Taava and her confidence withered, ears sinking. “And Taava, don’t threaten an ally.”

“Yes, Boss,” Taava grumbled.

When I turned back to look at Kartania, she held her head a bit higher, looking at me with a cold gaze. “You’ve changed, sister.”

I smiled wistfully. “You too, Tania.” I clapped all four hands together. “I really wanted to make a four-arms joke, but I need you to know I can be serious when I need to. And when that comes to my allies…” I gestured to Nelys and Taava, the former looking downtrodden on the edge of the bed. “I’m going to make sure they get their fair shake. Taava?”

The moment after I asked a question, Taava’s tail flicked forward and a small knife whizzed about two feet over Kartania’s head. I watched it slam into the wall with trepidation. That’ll cost us. A fraction of a second later, Kartania noticed, her hands coming up too late.

If it had been an attack…

Instead, Taava stuck out her tongue. “I may just be a bard, but I’ve got plenty a tricks, and I’m real quick in a fight.”

Kartania nodded approvingly.

Taava vetted, I turned to our last group member. “Nelys, do you mind telling my sister about the times you’ve put together the solution to a mystery or saved my skin?”

Nelys shook their head sadly and my heart cracked. The mood in the room dropped by several degrees, and I gave Kartania a withering glare.

My sister cleared her throat, suddenly nervous. “Well… they need to be able to take criticism!”

“How was that criticism, Tania?”

Kartania took a deep breath. “I suppose… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that to me.”

My sister closed her eyes for a moment, then stood up and walked over to Nelys, before bowing in front of them. “I, Kartania Miller, apologize to Nelys for baselessly calling into question their abilities.”

Nelys looked up at my sister, thinking. After an uncomfortably long silence, they forced a smile. “Apology accepted. But… you’re right. When everyone’s slinging spells and moving faster than I can track, I just end up a liability.”

“Nelys, I—”

“No,” Nelys cut me off. “You shouldn’t have to take time protecting me instead of fighting. I think… I…” They sighed. “If I leave right now, there are people I can’t deal with who’ll come after me.”

“Because of me…” I whispered, a lump in my throat.

Nelys shook their head. “Because I chose to stick by you. I don’t want to leave right now. And I know I can help—not with the big flashy stuff, but a lot of little things and investigative work. My time in Lockmoth with Aretan and Officer Lorton taught me something: I like mysteries—I like puzzling them out and finding out all the little details.”

“I guess what I’m getting at is: Kartania is right, in a fight. The problem is that there’ll be a lot of fights very soon. I don’t want to leave, but I also don’t want to be a burden.”

I bit my lip and kept silent. They need this moment.

“Zarenna,” they turned to me, dark eyes wet, “Will you protect me?”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

Nelys shook their head. “I mean more than that. You can’t always be there instantly.”

“But then…”

Nelys took a deep breath. “I want to form a contract with you, Zarenna Miller.”