The Lady’s Gift, Part 2

“There’s this… artifact, embedded on my back. I don’t know what it is; I’ve had it on me since my father found me, but it lets me channel a lot more mana than usual.”

Galardos rubbed his chin at her words.

“A mana catalyst…?” he muttered, deep in thought. “That’s unusual. They’re normally used to power structures or golems, but I’ve never seen one grafted onto a person.”

“It goes down my back,” Milla added, reaching over with her hand. “From the nape of my neck and all the way down to my waist.”

As she elaborated, Galardos’ expression grew serious.

“All the way down? Hold on. It grew in size with you as you got older?”

“Um… yes. I don’t know how it works, but it kept up with me as I grew up. Its power has gotten stronger, too.”

Galardos fell deep in thought for a moment, piecing everything together.

“I must use appraisal magic on you, Milla,” he concluded. “You are shrouded in too many mysteries, and it’s imperative that we unveil them before anyone else does.”

Milla gulped nervously.

Part of her hoped the demigod would have some boring explanation, saying her implant wasn’t a big deal and she’d been worrying about nothing all this time. But his expression was dead serious.

Something about her circumstances was terribly, terribly wrong.

“If you find something awful…” the words slipped her. “Will you still help me?”

Her fists shook as she clenched them, the feeling of dread gnawing at her chest.

Milla knew full well she wasn’t human; that much was obvious at a glance. But what if she wasn’t just a demigod either? What if she was something else? Something horrible?

It was this kind of questions that kept her up at night since she was a girl, and now Galardos was about to find the answer for her, whether she liked it or not.

“I will not forsake you,” the demigod answered. “You’ve been kind to me, and I am certain you are a gentle, noble soul. I will guard you, come what may.”

Was it his way of speaking, or did he make an oath just then?

For the life of her, Milla didn’t know.

However, she could feel it in her heart.

This demigod — she could trust him.

“I understand,” she said, her eyes locked to his. “If you can find the truth about me, then by all means… please do so.”

She wouldn’t run away from it.

Whatever it was that Galardos would learn about her, she would take it head on.

Galardos stood up from his seat and walked to her side. Next to them, Jund observed in silence. He couldn’t help but feel like this was the end of an era. Whatever happened afterwards, his daughter would leave their nest and pursue her destiny.

Milla’s heartbeat raced as Galardos drew close to her.

He smells nice, the thought intruded in her head.

“For this spell to work properly, I need to pour my mana into your heart. And I must warn, it’s quite intrusive. Nevertheless, may I?” he asked, showing his palm to her.

“What? Oh, yes. Of course,” Milla snapped back to reality.

Excusing himself, Galardos held onto Milla’s shoulder with one hand and pressed the other onto her chest. She could feel her heartbeat pounding against his palm, her cheeks turning a bright shade of red.

“Look deep into my eyes,” the demigod instructed, unbothered. “And do not blink.”

Milla muffled her panic and fixed her gaze to his.

Then — she felt it.

A soothing flow of mana poured out from Galardos’ palm and into her chest. It melded into her bloodstream and spread throughout her body like a spring thaw.

As a fellow spellcaster, Milla could tell how gentle he was being with her. His magic felt like a soft caress, carefully and meticulously brushing against every fiber of her being… every crevice, every cell from head to toe, his mana touched it all.

The appraisal spell was leaving no stone unturned, telling him everything about her in both body and soul. Galardos had warned the spell was intrusive, but boy was that an understatement — heck, even making love to the man would’ve been less intimate.

As it dawned on her, Milla’s cheeks burned red crimson, and her flustered feelings carried over to Galardos. By the Gods, it took her everything not to break eye contact.

“Calm down. We’re almost done with this,” the man’s voice spoke inside her head, and Milla quietly nodded as she bit her lip. Then, after some of the longest seconds in her life, he carefully extracted his mana and pulled his hand back from her chest.

“Puah!” Milla breathed out, collapsing to her knees.

“He saw everything. All of it! I can’t get married anymore…”

“Milla, are you okay?”

Jund reached out to her, blissfully unaware of her inner turmoil.

Galardos, on the other hand…

His expression was stone cold, which wasn’t lost on Gromni.

“So,” the dwarf cleared his throat, trying to cut the tension, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

The question snapped Milla back to the heart of the matter. The deed was done, and all that remained was the verdict.

Galardos’s eyes were downcast, his face shrouded in some unspeakable shadow. In all their years adventuring together, Gromni had never seen him so hesitant. Afraid, even.

“Well?” Milla asked, composing herself. “Did you... find anything?”

It felt like a ridiculous question. Of course he had. He’d seen it all. But the look on his face — so conflicted, so quietly shaken — it blew all her embarrassment away.

“Gromni,” the demigod addressed him. “You’ve been a good friend to me; one of the best I’ve ever had, so I’m asking you this because I care about you. Let me erase your memories and teleport you to safety. I can’t drag you into this matter.”

The warmth in the pub shattered like a mug under a warhammer.

What in the Gods’ names had Galardos seen in Milla?

Gromni stared back, immutable as bedrock.

“I’ll draw my axe on ye, mate,” he warned, his voice grave. “On that day ye bestowed a boon upon me, I swore I’d follow ye to my dying breath. That oath still stands, and it ain’t up for debate.”

The dwarf didn’t flinch. Galardos knew it; he was serious. If he wanted to keep his friend out of it, he’d have to fight him for it.

“If you stay with us, you’ll be making an enemy of the Zarian Order. Of Lady Zarielle herself, and everyone who follows her. Are you prepared for that?”

“What!?” Milla and Jund sprang to their feet.

It was nonsense — had to be. Milla was a miracle, a divine answer to a prayer. Why would Zarielle suddenly turn hostile on her?

“Yer talking like ye’ll be her enemy too,” Gromni said.

Galardos remained silent.

“Whatever mess she’s in, yer not leaving her out to dry, are ye? So if yer fighting, I’m fighting, against whoever it is. End of story.”

He wasn’t going anywhere.

Unwilling to cross blades with his friend, Galardos accepted his determination. Whatever happened from that point on, the dwarf had been warned.

“L- Lord Galardos, it’s not funny!” Milla yelled. “Can you please cut it off and tell me what you’ve learned?”

She was at her wit’s end, as was her father. It pained Galardos to see them like this, but alas… he had no good news to share with them.

“I understand,” said the demigod. “I hereby swear, on the honor of the Alessia family and the Imperial Family of House Iustan, everything I say here will be the truth and nothing but the truth.”

As Galardos pledged his vow, a magic spell activated.

It was a Zone of Truth: a spell that forbid anyone inside its area of effect from lying.

Milla had already experienced a weaker version of this spell earlier in the night, but this time she knew: whatever Galardos was about to tell her, harsh as it may be, was reality.

The time, it seemed, had come for Milla to learn who she really was.