Chapter 191: Tea with Wrath

“I thought I told them to make the doors taller.” I rubbed at my horns, then remembered I was supposed to be professional. Guests claiming to know me in Church iconography and all that.

So, I looked up and cleared my throat, stepping fully into the room. Three people were seated, all staring up at me—and I recognized one of them immediately. Inva, tall for a human, golden-haired and in shining armor I doubted was comfortable to lounge in, was seated in the center.

Flanking her were a woman of Ordian complexion and a demon-blooded young woman with skin very nearly the same crimson as my own. The Ordian woman was familiar: short, messy dark hair and a face that slipped easily from aggressive to scowling. A sharp jaw on mild features set against a backdrop of brown leather that screamed “lose me in a crowd.”

The demon-blooded woman was very nearly her opposite. With bright, light brown eyes and a little bit of youth’s roundness to her face, she looked positively giddy under a thin layer of apprehension. Shoulders tense and chin up, her horns—more vertical than mine were—glinted in the light, festooned merrily with jewelry. She was wearing priestess robes, a big red symbol of Dhias emblazoned on the front.

I didn’t linger on either of them long, instead choosing to greet my friend. “Inva! It’s great to see you!” My voice came out bubbly, casual, and I knew a dopey smile accompanied it. There goes my noble bearing again.

My paladin friend’s smile faltered, and the other two flinched. Teeth—why do people always hate the teeth?

At the same time, I didn’t feel like apologizing for my teeth. They did nothing wrong.

“How’ve you been? I hope no one gave you any trouble in Astrye.” I sat down on the empty couch and let my tail loop onto the cushion next to me. On the table between us, steam wafted from three cups of tea, a fourth still empty.

It took until I’d taken the pot to pour myself some for me to get a response from Inva. Meanwhile, the demon-blooded woman looked like she was desperately holding in a dozen questions all at once, and the other, familiar woman couldn’t quite decide how openly she wanted to glare at me.

“N-no. Some trouble, Za-Marchioness,” Inva said, voice strained. She’d moved from sitting relaxedly to a straight-backed posture.

I looked up, and I couldn’t place her expression—it was something like embarrassment, but I also got the distinct impression she was trying not to laugh. No anger from her, but the dark-haired woman was giving a slowly building taste of it. What’s her deal?

So, I tried to break the ice. “Sorry about my entrance. The doors here are too short—anyone my height would forget to duck from time to time. And you three can just call me Zarenna.” I risked another smile as I lifted the teacup to my lips. This time the three barely flinched.

A snort escaped from Inva, then she took a breath and nodded, relaxing once again.

I realized I’d missed a step, as the demon-blooded woman looked on the verge of blurting something out, having pulled herself all the way to the edge of her seat, legs vibrating. “My apologies—this must all seem very abrupt. I’m Zarenna Miller, Marchioness of Astrye. Any friends of Inva are friends of mine.”

Inva blushed, and gestured for her friends to introduce themselves.

“Sonia Rozaro!” the demon-blooded woman blurted with a strong Cavenish accent, her chin up and brown eyes bright. She realized immediately she’d half stood up and sat back down, cheeks flushing a slightly darker crimson.

In an instant, it all made sense. I downed my cup of lovely tea and snapped my claws. “Salvador’s daughter, right?”

She nodded vigorously.

“He told me all about you—and it makes so much sense you’d be with Inva.” I inclined my head to the paladin. “I remember what she’d told me—helping end the stigma against demon-blooded. I’m… well there’s a lot going on right now, but it’s lovely to finally meet you, and I’ll do all I can to help your cause.”

Sonia beamed—her teeth were human, straight and white—and nodded. The glittering jewelry of silver and mother-of-pearl adorning her horns jangled almost melodically, and I immediately wished mine would stay pierced so I could try a similar look. “Thank you, Zarenna! I can call you Zarenna, right?”

“You just did!”

Sonia blinked owlishly at me.

“And I said you could, so yes, it’s fine.”

“Okay!” She nodded rapidly, and her horn jewelry jangled again.

I gestured my teacup at her horns. Are they polished? “I love your horn… well they’re not earrings per se, are they? Do you have a name for them?”

She shook her head. “I either call them earrings anyway, or just jewelry—usually just jewelry.”

“Hornrings?” I mused. “Ah, nevermind.” At another sudden spike of anger, I gestured to almost-forgotten third member, whose face also seemed familiar. Her anger had just spiked in a distantly familiar way, and when we locked eyes, I recognized the defiance in them immediately. “Paula?”

“So you do remember,” she hissed.

Sonia, for her credit, swallowed her next question with an almost chirping sound. Inva stayed stoically silent.

“I do! I got your note before we left, by the way—thank you.” I bowed my head.

The dark-haired mercenary seemed taken aback. Her nostrils flared, and she took a deep breath before she spoke. “Look, I came with these two just because I wanted to ask you some things about how you can be like you are.”

“Across half the Empire?”

“…Yeah.” Now it was her turn to blush.

I started to pour another cup of tea for myself. “Ask away then—unless it’s something private.”

“It’s not private! I shouldn’t be taking time from Sonia anyway.”

Inva was eyeing the teapot, so I passed it to her and lifted my cup again, blowing on it gently. “I won’t pressure you. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want to, although we’re rationing food at the moment. The castle has plenty of spare rooms.”

Paula shrugged, but her anger betrayed just how serious this was to her.

One look at Sonia saw her staring at my hands and biting her lower lip like it’d keep her from speaking. Reflexively, I shrunk my claws down, until they were little more than black fingernails. Her eyes went even wider.

I waved one hand, offered her the teapot with another, and lifted my cup with a third. “Apologies if my claws were making you nervous.”

“No! They weren’t, I promise. I was just… startled by all your arms. I don’t quite know the right words in Ordian.”

“We can switch to Cavenish,” I offered in Cavenish. “Although mine’s a little rusty.”

Sonia shook her head and slid a little back onto her seat. “No, I want all of us to understand the conversation.”

To that, I could only smile and nod.

Salvador’s demon-blooded daughter closed her eyes for a moment, sinking fully back into the chair. “This is nice. Being here and meeting you finally. You really are like what Dad said, although…”

“Although?”

“You’ve got more poise than I remember,” Inva finished. “Sonia’s father called you naïve and idealistic—in a good way, he said.”

My smile tugged downward, as I remembered everything after Lockmoth. “I guess you could say I’ve seen more of the world, and the people in it. I like to think I still carry that idealism, it’s just tempered. Regardless, what specifically can I do to help you, Sonia?”

Sonia’s eyes sparkled. “Like Paula, I have questions—different questions I’m sure. But I also want your help establishing an organization for demon-blooded. A way to get awareness out there—” she threw her arms wide in a gesture “—and get help and change lives. Would you allow me to establish it in Astrye?”

“Certainly!” I clapped all four hands together. “I think that’s a wonderful idea! But you’ll need to branch out to more populous areas, especially well-traveled cities. I might be able to help you in Linthel, and I should have an in in Gedon as well. Norgath if certain things align, Lockmoth probably, and maybe even in Navanaea.”

Her brow furrowed. “That’s… a lot.”

“I suppose it is, yeah. Do you have anything else you’d like to ask right now, or should we let Paula speak?” I gestured a hand at the silently fuming mercenary.

Sonia thought for a moment, finger on her chin, then shook her head. “A lot, but nothing pressing.”

I nodded. “Paula?”

She looked between me and the others, but her anger didn’t spike to match the grimace on her face. “Fucking formality. Fine, sure. What even are you, Zarenna? You don’t act like a demon at all. There’s gotta be a reason you’re the one damn exception, and I need to know why.”

“That’s… a lot. Give me a minute to think?”

Paula shrugged, so I closed my eyes and tried to figure out my answer. She was right in a way—I’m not really trying to act like a typical demon. I’m just trying to act like me. Honestly, I’m pretty human in a lot of ways: I eat and sleep for fun and my own sanity, I like being around humans, and, well, my mind’s a lot like a human’s probably.

Then again, my daughter acts similarly human—how much of that is my influence? As much as I trusted… all of them actually, I wasn’t about to describe how I was reborn, or any of the other compromising, deeply personal details. Moreover, I was far from the “only good demon” but that was a can of worms I didn’t want to try to open at the same time, so I let the comment slide.

“I think I’ve got an answer,” I said slowly, taking some last few seconds to think. “I’m pretty well in-touch with humanity in terms of how I think. A lot of my old life I left behind, but not all of it. Beyond that, I had help when I needed it, and what I am helps a lot.”

“It helps that I control my Wrath, not the other way around.” I leaned forward, almost conspiratorially “You all familiar with Sovereign demons? Either way, I’m Wrath. Don’t look it, I know, but I’m out here in Astrye explicitly to kill someone—I just don’t let that go to my head.”

“What kind of demons?” Paula asked. She looked over at Inva and Sonia, and her face lost a little color when she saw their postures grow rigid.

“…Did my father know?” Sonia asked, eventually.

“Yep. Really, it shouldn’t make much difference.”

“You have a good reason for gaining power then, right?” Inva asked.

“You have a good reason to tell me what the fuck this means?” Paula interjected. “You some sort of super-powerful demon?”

I made a so-so gesture. “I’m weaker than the other five, I’m all but certain. Certainly weaker than most.”

“Other five?” Paula’s anger spiked again.

“Sovereign demons embody their vices. They’re supposed to anyway,” Sonia answered.

“She’s right—mostly.” I rolled my four shoulders in a shrug and put on my best academic voice. “Each of us is the top of a whole category of demons, at least in theory. Often, that means losing themselves to their primary vice, but it can also mean mastery over it. Truthfully, I don’t know why I’m qualified, and I’m still trying to live up to the title—on the mastery side, I should say.”

“Do you need power then?” Inva asked. Her expression was almost hurt.

I nodded and forced myself to sit up a little straighter. “You saw the attack, right? Envy’s planning something with Avarice, and the two of them are fighting me since I stuck my nose into it back in Lockmoth. And again in Gedon—and a few places on the route south, too.

I don’t want to involve humans in this, but Astrye was already involved before I got here, and now that this place is related to me, they’ll be a target regardless of what I do.” I finished with four open hands and an exasperated shrug. Truthfully, I didn’t not want power, but what I had already would be more than plenty in an ideal case.

“Hold up.” Paula leaned forward and glared at me, though she froze up when my eyes met hers. “S-so they’ll be a target if we do this whole ‘demon-blooded help center thing?’”

Oh shit, that’s a good point. I tried not to let the surprise show on my face.

“We?” Inva asked Paula.

Paula’s head whipped toward her. “I, uh, well… you’ll need a merc for it, yeah. Someone to beat up folks who try to beat you up, yeah?”

Inva looked down at her armor and quirked a brow, while Sonia sprouted a grin so wide I worried it’d stick.

I coughed to draw attention—and to give Paula an out. “Look, you’re members of the Church—they’ll be targeting you anyway, and they’re targeting innocents too. If anything, being nearer to my power base will make you a little bit safer. And Inva, that’s why I’m trying to gain power. I want to stop Envy’s madness.”

Inva fidgeted her hands in her lap. “I… that makes sense. It’s just a lot to think about is all.”

“Is Envy who you’re here to kill?” Sonia asked.

I shook my head. “No, but that person is involved and very, very deserving of death.”

“How are you so certain?” Inva asked.

“They turned the Church’s Inquisition into a demon-creating cult through mass murder and indoctrination. They meant to sacrifice the entire city of Astrye before I got here.”

“Oh…” Inva deflated, then bounced back up, a fire in her eyes. “If this is as you say, then you may well be right. But still… the idea unsettles me.”

I ran a hand through my hair so I wouldn’t tap at a horn. “I’m not going to make a habit out of this—and I know how hollow that sounds. But I will defend my family and my friends, and I will kill to do so.”

“Have you?” Inva asked.

“I’ve been forced to. I’d do anything to defend my wife and daughter.”

“Your what?” Paula stammered.

Sonia’s eyes glimmered with what had to be a ton of new questions, while Inva froze, staring at me. I watched the paladin’s held cup tilting toward her tabard. Reflexively, I lunged forward and grabbed it. The paladin grunted at the sudden movement, and both Paula and Sonia froze, the latter mid-breath. I handed Inva back her half-filled cup, and she took it in a shaking hand.

“Sorry—I shouldn’t have moved like that.” I punctuated my words with a forced giggle. It didn’t really help, but it did break everyone out of their shock.

Which unleashed the pent-up barrage of questions from Sonia.

“You’ve married? Who?” She leaned forward, eyes sparkling. “And you have a daughter? Is it a demon thing, or did you adopt? Is your daughter a demon? Can I meet them?” She took a deep breath in like she was going to say more, then caught herself and released it slowly. “Sorry, Zarenna, it’s just… wow.”

I just smiled, all teeth of course, and waved her apology off. “It’s fine. I married Seyari. My sister married us in a hurry so the Church wouldn’t drag her off for associating with me.”

“Called it,” Paula muttered.

Inva set her cup down, carefully. “That’s wonderful! Why would the Church want her though?”

“That’s a long story, and it’s not my place to tell.” I took a sip of tea and savored it. “The short of it is that she was misled into doing a lot of bad things years ago, and even though all the circumstances should have come to light, there’s still trouble.”

Sonia bounced on her seat. “What about your daughter?”

I looked at her and poured some tea into her long-empty cup. “That’s another long story, but she’s effectively a blood relation to both Seyari and I. Her name is Joisse, she’s probably equivalent to around sixteen or seventeen, and she’s a shining example of how a demon can overcome the vices that made them be.

“I’d like for all of you to meet them later, but Joisse is out with friends tonight at least, and Seyari is patrolling the pass and surrounding hills until sundown.”

“She’s a blood relation and already a teenager?” Paula asked. “The fuck does that work?”

“Sovereign demon soul magic stuff?” I offered a four-shouldered shrug. “I don’t fully understand it either, and I’d love her all the same even had it not happened after we’d adopted her.”

Inva drained her teacup. “This is all so much. What about this latest attack? Are we in danger? Can we help?”

“Envy, you’re safe in the city as best as I know, and if you’re handy with carpentry or masonry, we could use you.”

Inva shook her head, Sonia frowned, and Paula closed her eyes. “My dad was a mason—I still remember a few things.”

“Great! Even if you can just lift lumber, stones, or spirits, you could be an immense help.”

Sonia swallowed. “But it seemed like they hated the Church.”

“We’ve had problems with the Church, but we’ve had help from a paladins of theirs recently, too.”

Inva tilted her head. “Oh! Who?”

“Paladin Gareth Warren.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know him, sorry.”

I shrugged. “Didn’t expect you to. Regardless, I should probably say that there might be more trouble with them soon.”

“How so?”

“Well, remember how I said my sister married me and Sey in a rush to stop them taking her?”

Inva nodded slowly.

“They’d sent a force to move against the cult in the city, but we’d gotten there first. The person they chose to lead said force wouldn’t even take a step into town or ask anyone what happened.”

Inva’s jaw tightened. “Who did they send?”

“High Priest Grants.”

Her lips twitched into a brief grimace. “I know him.”

“Inva?” Sonia asked.

The paladin sighed and ran a hand through her long hair. “He’s… a fundamentalist. The type who follows a rigid code and doesn’t bend. He was going to tutor me until, well…” she side-eyed Paula.

The mercenary threw up her hands. “What? I’ve never heard of this guy! Don’t drag me into this.”

“It’s not that,” Inva said quietly.

“Then I don’t see a problem, yeah?”

Inva smiled softly. “Right. So, Zarenna already knows this, but I…” she gulped and looked at Sonia. “I wasn’t born as a woman—at least my body wasn’t. I look like this because of herbs and magic and—”

She cut off when Sonia drew her into a hug. “Don’t cry!”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you and—”

The demon-blooded woman held her tighter. “What does it matter?”

Inva sniffled, but nodded. “I just… it felt like something you should know and I never told you and—”

“It’s fine. Really, it’s fine.” Sonia pulled Inva’s chin up to look at her. “We traveled a continent to try to help people be who they are. Same thing, right?”

“...Right.”

Paula looked askance at me. “I don’t get it.”

I could only shrug.

“I guess… like maybe before all this it might’ve meant something.” She heaved a sigh and scooted over to Inva, laying a hand awkwardly on her back. “Buck up. You’re pretty okay, right? And I don’t care what you were—world’s too damn crazy to worry about that.”

“...Thanks you two.” Inva sniffled, then took a deep breath. “Sorry Zarenna… I turned us down the wrong path a little.”

“No.” My assertion made her look up and I met her eyes. “This kind of stuff’s important. You feel better, right?”

She nodded, still wrapped up in Sonia’s arms, the demon-blooded resting her chin against Inva’s shoulder, eyes closed. For her part, Paula couldn’t hide the hint of a smile on her face. They looked so cute together.

I hated that we still had to talk about the high priest. But the conversation had led here, and hiding it would be the wrong thing to do.

“What do you know about High Priest Grants?” I asked again.

“He… well, I was good at training. Took to it well—threw myself into it harder than everyone else. He scouted me, wanted to take me in to train, told me I could be one of the best. I figured some things out about myself, but when I started to take herbs for it, using the money I’d finally gotten, he stopped showing interest.

“He never said why, but I think everyone knew. Like I said, he’s a traditionalist. All this was maybe three interactions half a decade ago, but they stuck with me. I guess because he was ‘one of the good guys’ so to speak—made me feel like I’d done something wrong.”

“Did you get a chance to explain things to him?” Sonia asked.

Inva shook her head. “No. He just started avoiding me, treating me like someone he had no interest in.”

I nodded, forcing myself to keep a neutral face even as the tip of my tail twitched and flicked in irritation. What a bastard! “He wouldn’t listen to me either.”

Both Inva and Sonia looked my way. Paula looked down into her teacup, then back up. Her anger had evaporated with Inva’s tears, and now she seemed to be taking the part of an onlooker.

“I’d just dealt with the cult openly as a demon, and the city accepted me, in a way. I didn’t think it’d be wise to hide what I was from the Church since they already had High Priest Styon watching me, so I figured I could help explain with the town’s then-mayor and my sister who was and might still be a Paladin of Dhias what had happened and maybe get some aid rebuilding.

He didn’t listen to a word I, my sister, or Seyari said and attacked us.” My head hung lower at the memory, horns suddenly a little heavier than normal.

Inva’s face paled as she put two and two together. “You killed him, didn’t you?”

I nodded solemnly. “I tried multiple times, but he didn’t listen to a single word, even in the end. I at least did what I could to kill him swiftly and painlessly. We let the forces he’d brought with him retreat back over the pass—he was the only casualty.”

“Sounds like a cut and dry case to me,” Paula said. “Honestly, it’s relieving to know you do kill people sometimes. Makes you more real.”

“Paula!” Sonia exclaimed.

“What? I wanted to see if she was real, and I’ve got my answer.”

“Still, though…” Sonia trailed off.

Inva pulled herself up out of Sonia’s hug. “I agree. This… the Church isn’t going to let this go. And I don’t know how I feel about this all either. I don’t disbelieve you, but… I need some time to think.” She stood up.

“Please, take as much time as you need.” I gestured to the door. “Shyll’s probably waiting outside, and I don’t doubt there’s at least one room that isn’t frozen solid you can go to.”

Inva opened her mouth, then closed it again and nodded curtly. Her eyes were still red and damp, but I wasn’t quite sure from what. Quickly, and with tea still in her cup, she left, closing the door behind her.

“Inva…” Sonia lifted a limp-wristed arm after the paladin, then glanced at me.

“Go,” I told her. “I’ll be doing work in mine and Sey’s room—have someone show you up there if you want to talk.”

Sonia looked at me in surprise, then nodded, jumping up and dashing after the paladin.

“I, uh…” Paula started, now keenly aware we were the only two people in the room.

“You too,” I gestured at the now-open door, a grin forming.

Paula stood and took a couple steps, then paused, fighting a blush. “Hey, uh, thanks for telling us that. It’d be bad if either of them, y’know, found out on their own.”

I nodded, and watched her dash out the door, leaving me with only the cooling dregs of a teapot and three indentations on seat cushions. Guess I’d better get back to work, if I can keep my mind on it at all.