Calm

The incessant quacking of Billia's ducklings filled the room while the rabbit girl Vibby and Martoh's niece chased them around Yahime. Only the dogboy, Hachiko, sat quietly, resting his head against Derry's side.

"You found who?"

"Hanabi's ex-lover," I sighed. "And Bixey's father."

"And he was doing all that in a temple of the Goddess?" Lucinda shook her head and clutched her cup of tea. "No wonder she refused to speak of him. If my Ube had done something like that when I was pregnant with Taro…"

"And that's why I made sure to leave nothing but ash!" Hanabi crowed. She down her fifth glass of liquor and put her fist on her hips triumphantly. "I swore I'd end him if I ever saw him again!"

"Still, you didn't even want to talk to him?"

Hanabi waved her hand dismissively. "This is why you're still single, Derry. You're too nice. Scum like that deserve to die in the most painful way possible."

The face of a blond prince flashed in my mind. Despite the hijinks that had occurred, the situation was as grave as ever. In our absence Richard's men had begun moving en masse, creating smaller encampments around Stonewood. The villagers had also seen smoke coming from the far side of the mountain. Had Richard found the cave to the Essence Stones?

"W-What are we going to do with the c-children?"

Everyone at the table looked at the fidgeting mongoose woman beside me. She normally seemed more comfortable listening than talking, so despite being a valid question, she'd caught us off guard.

"You don't need to worry about that," Lucinda said. "You, the children, and anyone else who can't fight are going to be taking shelter in Billia's house. Isn't that right?"

The duckwoman frowned but nodded. Her house had been chosen since it was the largest in the village and the only one with enough beds for guests. Taro and the others had already started building cots to add as well.

"Anything to help," Billia mumbled. "Not that any of you will appreciate it."

The other women teased Billia and I took the moment to sift through my status window. All of my stats had jumped dramatically since arriving at Stonewood and I'd even had a chance to experiment with my Yozora magic the previous night. I'd been exhausted, but the thought of having to summon another golem that looked like my ex-manager made my stomach churn. I'd rather just die again.

Thankfully it hadn't been hard to change the golem's form and the simplicity made me wonder if a certain goddess had just been playing a prank on me. I hadn't heard from her since she chastised me for being ungrateful. With that said, Yahime and I had spoken in length about my conversation while lying in bed.

"mother… watching…"

"More like your sisters. They've been watching us our whole journey."

"never… saw…"

I shook my head. "Me neither. I guess not all Dusks stick out as much as you."

I bit back a smile when I remembered the swell of embarrassment I'd felt from Yahime. Aside from her speech she had reached the intellectual level of the other children. Her biggest issue was remembering details. Numbers, names, colors, she could never seem to be precise. The villagers were "animal people" and she still used words like "many" or "some" when it came to counting things. The only name she could seem to remember consistently was mine.

"What are you staring into space for?"

My head nearly hit the table as Hanabi pressed her chest against the back of my head. Was she really Bixey's mother?

"I'm just thinking about the upcoming battle. You said a black-haired swordsman joined Richard?"

"Along with a hundred foot soldiers and two dozen mages."

Louis. My mouth dried just thinking of him. Aurelie had only ever watched him fight once, during an exhibition tournament at the academy, and he'd annihilated the competition. He'd even bested the vice-captain of the Silver Order, the knights who comprised the royal guard.

"Isn't there anything we can do? Any way to drive them off?" Mochi's voice trembled as she spoke. The pregnant pigwoman had been a nervous wreck since the first attack and the uncertainty of the next had made her bedridden several times already.

"We just have to wait," Hanabi said. "If we strike too soon, they'll call for more reinforcements or swarm us."

"So we're taking advantage of their overconfidence?"

The kitsune nodded.

"Humans, no offense Kyomi, are arrogant and often decide whether they've won or lost before a battle even begins. With the addition of this Louis and his troops, the humans have already assumed their victory."

I'm not so sure. Richard could have swarmed the village with Ajax and his men before Yahime and I arrived, but didn't. He's always thinking about costs and ROIs. The fact they haven't attacked yet means he's making certain they can't lose.

"Mochi's right. We should go on the offensive."

Hanabi's golden eyes narrowed and she waited for me to elaborate.

"There's been signs of Richard and his men on the far side of the mountain, right? Who's to say how close he is to reaching the Essence Stones? Once he does, Stonewood will be doomed no matter what we do."

"That…" Hanabi's ears flattened and her drunken mirth was nowhere to be seen. "You might be right."

The adults at the table shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Are we going to be okay?"

I wasn't sure I'd ever heard Hachiko speak before. His voice was soft with a natural tremble that was as jittery as Rikki's voice.

"We're going to be just fine," Derry said. She petted the boy's ears and pulled him into her side. "Just look! Not only do we have Lady Hanabi, but Lady Kyomi and Lady Yahime as well!"

"That's right!" I put on the biggest smile I could muster. "We'll make sure nothing happens to you or anyone else in the village."

The other women chimed in with similar reassurances while glancing at one another to receive them themselves. Not even Hanabi seemed confident after I reminded her of the stones.

***

"Double the guards at each encampment and ensure there's at least one light mage with each squad maintaining a barrier."

"At once, my Lord."

The soldier ran from the tent and began barking orders.

"Are you sure that's necessary? There's been no movement from the village as of yet."

"Don't get complacent, Gredig. Our opponent is Aurelie Scelerat. Exiled or not, she was once groomed to be the Moon of the Empire and was the top ranking student at Orattvis. She knows more than just economics and diplomacy."

"I know, but there's only two of them. You said you would deal with the Dusk and not even she can protect the demon village and hold off the troops. We should focus on excavating—"

"If that's what you think, you truly don't understand! Now that she's broken free of the emperor and her family, she can utilize her talents however she wants. I can guarantee she's organizing raids to weaken us and lower morale."

"If she could do that, wouldn't she have done it already?"

Louis's jaw clenched, his hand squeezing his sword.

"It's your sense of superiority she's been waiting on. Her idleness has made you complacent and that's what will prompt her to attack."

Running his hand through his slicked back teal hair, Richard sighed and slumped in his chair. Stacks of papers were piled on the table in front of him; even in the wilderness he couldn't escape his responsibilities as heir to the trading company. Reestablishing Edgeton in particular had proven quite taxing.

"Then we should attack ourselves, shouldn't we?"

The permanent scowl on Louis's baby face morphed into a battle hungry grin.

"I've been waiting for you to say that."