Book Two - Chapter One

Book Two: The Fledgling Knight

“Lusya, no! Stop it!”

Ariya’s agonized screams drowned out the gurgle of the stream and grated on the ears. She thrashed and splashed about, sending sprays of cool river water around her, but she could not escape the solid hold Lusya hand on her head and shoulder as she scrubbed Ariya’s back. Then again, it did not seem that Ariya was making much effort to escape. For all her fussing, she had done nothing with any hope of success to get Lusya to release her.

“Hold still,” Lusya said, filling the bowl in her hand with the river’s water once more. “It will be uncomfortable for you if the soap dries.”

With no more warning, she dumped the water over Ariya’s head. The child let out another shriek and squirmed but made no proper effort to avoid it. She shivered as the water ran off her.

“It’s so cold,” Ariya said.

Lusya blinked as she set to lathering Ariya’s arms. “It is an acceptable temperature.”

Were it winter or earlier in the spring still, the stream would indeed have been much too cold for bathing. However, it was the middle of spring now. Toward the end, even. Lusya would not have called the water warm by any stretch of the imagination, but it was tolerable and posed no risk to Ariya’s health. If it had been cold, however, struggling and splashing it about did not seem like an effective way to deal with the issue.

Ariya huffed and crossed her arms. “I hate this.”

“If it were truly as bad as you would have me believe,” Lusya said, “your Malice would be reacting much more than it is.”

Now that Ariya knew that Lusya was a demon, Lusya made less of an effort to conceal the nature of her abilities. Ariya was well-aware of Lusya’s inherent sense for Malice and of the need to keep it a secret. Concealing it may have been unnecessary to begin with, but Lusya had not wanted to test Ariya’s knowledge of demons. Of course, there was still much Ariya did not know. Lusya’s exact parentage and the true purpose of their journey were both still secrets.

Lusya had also refrained from explaining the importance of Ariya remaining pure. On that note, Lusya hadn’t even told the child that she was the purest mortal Lusya had met. People could behave oddly under the weight of expectations, and—despite her purity—Ariya did have moments of pride that could have given way to something darker. As such, Lusya thought it best to keep Ariya’s purpose and qualifications vague.

Ariya looked up at her, pouting. “No fair, reading my mind.”

“That is not what I said.”

Ariya shrugged. “Close enough.”

Lusya very much disagreed with that assertion. Observing Malice fluctuations gave her a vague idea of a mortal’s general emotional state. It was not reading thoughts by any reasonable definition. For that matter, outside of extreme cases, it only worked for mortals she was already familiar with. Even then, its reliability varied. Not all mortals had the same stability, and close to none had Ariya’s.

“And I still don’t like it,” Ariya added. “Hmph.”

She crossed her arms and held her head high, as if that statement had marked some decisive victory. Her head lowered a moment later when Lusya dumped another bowl of water over Ariya’s head.

“In any case,” Lusya said, deciding the matter was not worth arguing, “proper hygiene is important. You will finish bathing.”

“Well, you should take a bath too, then,” Ariya said, grinning as if victorious.

Lusya nodded. “I will, as soon as you are done. If you did not struggle so much, we could do this simultaneously.”

Did Ariya believe Lusya had undressed and gotten in the water solely to bathe her? Ariya displayed a marked lack of awareness at times. Lusya understood it was somewhat typical for a child Ariya’s age.

They could have taken individual, concurrent baths. Ariya would bathe in the stream if Lusya instructed. However, Ariya’s reluctance tended to make her do a poor job, so Lusya had long since taken it upon herself to handle it.

“That means at the same time, right?” Ariya asked.

“Correct.” Lusya walked to the shore and lathered her hands. The area they bathed in was about waist-high for Lusya. On Ariya, the water reached up to her chest. “We will wash your hair now.”

Ariya groaned. Then, again, she smiled, looking quite proud of herself. “But what if someone walks by?”

“I do not understand the question,” Lusya replied, cocking her head and blinking twice, as she worked the soap into the child’s scalp.

“They’ll see us naked.”

“That does not bother me,” Lusya said.

“Well, it bothers me,” Ariya whined.

“You will be fine.”

Ariya sighed. “Why do you even wear clothes if you don’t care?”

“There are a number of reasons.”

Clothing served a number of practical purposes, after all. Lusya suspected the nudity taboo had sprung from them, not the other way around. Then there was the need to blend in, of course. Breaking such a common rule was sure to draw unwanted attention, at best. Even among demons, that had been the case. Most clung to clothes as much as any mortal. She would also have admitted, if pressed, that aesthetics played a part. She still took Father’s advice on such matters seriously.

She dumped another couple bowls of water over Ariya to rinse her hair out.

“I think that will do for now,” Lusya said. “You may dry off on the shore while I bathe.” She whirled to face the trees beyond the riverbed. “Who’s there?”

There was a surprised shout from behind a particularly large tree. Lusya had detected the Malice signature earlier but had dismissed it as a mere passerby. Its strength had been well above average but did not approach that of upper-level Sacred Knights. At best, it came close to a new recruit.

Few of that level could detect demons, so she hadn’t considered a confrontation. On top of that, Sacred Knights almost always traveled in groups. Paladins and other elites were known to take assignments alone, but this was not one of them. Lusya had dismissed the singular presence as the occasional stray powerful mortal. But it had been stopped behind that tree for a couple minutes now. Too long for a traveler who had perhaps stopped at the noise, and it had kept creeping closer. When it had neared where Lusya’s supplies were was when she had decided the matter needed addressing. She also sensed that it was more powerful than it had appeared at first.

“Show yourself,” she demanded.

A young human man stepped out from behind the tree, eyes wide and arms raised as if in surrender. At a glance, he wasn’t anything special. He was of just above average height, dressed in a simple shirt under a vest, pants, and cloak. Ordinary traveling clothes. Though of noticeably high quality. There was a sword at his hip, but being armed wasn’t unusual for a lone traveler either. A sword was not the typical weapon of choice for such people due to its skill requirements, but it was not rare enough to be noteworthy.

“Why were you spying on us?” Lusya asked.

“Yeah, that’s not nice!” Ariya added.

“I-I didn’t mean to spy,” the man sputtered. “I mean, I wasn’t spying! Well, I was, but I wasn’t going to do anything bad, I swear!”

The man’s face was bright red, and he refused to meet Lusya’s gaze, lowering his eyes the moment they made eye contact. That could have been a sign of nervousness or deception. Although, following his most frequent line of sight presented an alternative theory.

“Then why were you hiding there?” Lusya asked.

“Well, I heard girls screaming and talking,” he said. “So, I, uh, came to take a look, you know?”

She tilted her head and blinked. “I see. So, you are what is called a lecher, then. I had thought so based on your fixation with my breasts, but I am inexperienced with those such as yourself, so I did not want to be hasty in my conclusions.”

Ariya let out a scandalized gasp and hid behind Lusya.

The man made a series of incoherent sounds, before slapping a hand over his eyes hard enough to make a sound and turning his head to the side. It looked like his fingers were far enough apart that he still could have seen out if he had wanted to. In fact, Lusya was sure she could see one of his blue eyes peering out.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to stare,” he said. “And that’s not what I meant! I heard screaming and shouting, so I wanted to make sure everybody was okay.”

She supposed that was a plausible enough explanation of his behavior. That said, she still thought he had lingered a bit longer than necessary if that had been his purpose. Perhaps he had come with those intentions and then decided to watch them bathe. Or perhaps he had wanted to be extra sure in whatever conclusion he reached.

She supposed it didn’t matter much. He did not seem malicious, nor was he strong enough to be a threat. It was evident he was stronger than most humans, but it had been years since someone like him would have even presented a challenge, and her motomancy had only increased in strength over the past three months. Her combat encounters accounted for part of it, but not all. She was not sure what was responsible for the rest.

“As you can see, we are both well. Ariya was simply being difficult about bathing,” she said. “Your gaze does not bother me, but I suspect your presence will make Ariya uncomfortable…”

“You bet it will!”

“…and I prefer to avoid unnecessary company. As such, you will leave now.”

“Wait!” the man exclaimed, he reached out his hand toward her, as if to grab someone walking away. The next instant, his eyes widened, and he placed the hand back over them. “Now that I’m here anyway, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“I do not recall us ever meeting before,” she said. “I do not see what we could have to discuss. If you are a merchant, I am not interested in your wares.”

“Especially since you watch people not wearing anything,” Ariya said, then stuck her tongue out at the man.

“I said it’s not like that,” he insisted, his voice plaintive and his face about as red as Lusya had ever seen a mortal’s become.

“Silence, Ariya,” Lusya said. “What do you wish to speak with me about?”

“Yes, Lusya,” Ariya said. She was a bit sullen, but there was no noticeable reaction in her Malice levels.

“Well, a few things in particular,” he said. “But mostly, I just want someone to talk to. I’ve been traveling by myself for a while. Getting a little lonely, you know?”

“No, I do not know,” Lusya said. Loneliness was a feeling she neither experienced nor understood.

The man let out an uneasy chuckle and scratched at the back of his head with his free hand, ruffling his blond hair. “The point is, I could use some company, if that’s okay.”

Lusya blinked. She did not think indulging him would be harmful, but she was not accustomed to such requests. She could count the number of people who had made a point of seeking out her company on one hand, and Ariya was the sole mortal on the list. None of them had ever made such an explicit, yet vague, request either. Ariya either just started talking or asked for some specific activity or answer. Besides, they were almost always together anyway. Father had always had some purpose as well, though he had confessed that they were often little more than excuses. Other demons had been much the same. While she saw little reason to refuse, she saw little reason to accept either.

“I totally get it!” Ariya said, apparently having forgotten any grudge she bore the young man. “And talking to new people is so fun. Can we, Lusya, please?”

Lusya cocked her head, blinking two times. “I do not understand why we should.”

“Sometimes you just want to talk to someone,” Ariya replied. “I have you, and back home I had Mama and Papa and Jak. But sometimes, when I get done playing by myself, I just really want to talk to somebody all of a sudden. It sucks when I don’t get to, and I don’t want anyone to be sad. Besides, it can be fun for us too!”

Lusya hesitated. Considering the lack of apparent disadvantages, keeping Ariya happy seemed the best course of action. Still, the fact that she did not understand the motivations, and very much doubted it would be “fun” for her, gave her pause.

“Please?” Ariya asked again.

Lusya blinked, then nodded. “Very well.” She turned to the young man. “Wait on the shore there. We will be done shortly.”

“Got it!” the man replied, grinning and thrusting a thumbs-up at her. “I’ll even go back behind the tree, so you don’t feel like I’m watching you.”

Lusya blinked and nodded. “Do as you wish.”