Book Two - Chapter Four

“…so, we were wondering if you could tell us a little about what’s going on,” Ander said as he finished explaining his suspicions to the innkeeper.

The innkeeper kept his fake smile on. If anything, it grew bigger. His slightly yellow teeth looked about ready to jump out of his mouth, an impression not helped by their crookedness. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Maybe people are a bit on edge, but the beginning of a tranquil age can be a stressful time. There’s nothing particularly wrong in the village.” He chuckled. “And I would know, people gossip in here plenty.”

“Is there some reason you can’t tell me?” Ander pressed, leaning over the bar counter and lowering his voice to a whisper. “A threat of some kind?”

The innkeeper forced a laugh about as convincing as his smile and shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re referring to. Is this some kind of joke?”

Ariya found the whole fake happiness thing a little creepy. She was pretty sure her face would hurt if she smiled like that. The laugh was strange too, so dull and hollow. It was like an impression from someone who’d had a laugh described to them but never actually heard one.

Lusya stared at the man with unusual intensity. Maybe she was trying to learn how to tell apart fake smiles. Ariya wasn’t sure it would work. This guy wasn’t very good at it.

Ander sighed, then smiled back at the man. Ander was much better at faking a smile. Ariya almost couldn’t tell. She noticed Lusya staring at him now too.

“Well, thank you for the rooms and meals,” Ander said. “We’ll be going now.”

He led the way out of the inn and around to the stable, where his horses were. The one with the white mark on its nose was chewing on some hay, while the all brown one was gulping down water from a bucket. They both stopped as Ariya and the others approached but continued when no one went to get them. Ander stopped next to his carriage and turned to face Lusya and Ariya with a scowl.

“Well, that got us nowhere,” he said. He looked to Lusya. “You wanted to go sell your books, right?”

Luysa nodded. “That is correct.”

“Then can I ask you to question the general store manager while you’re at it?”

“Very well,” Lusya said.

He smiled, for real this time. “Good. If that doesn’t work, we won’t have much choice but to ask random people on the street.”

“They may be more likely to speak,” she said.

He nodded. “Yeah, but that’s why I don’t want to pressure them if we can help it.”

“I see little reason not to,” Lusya replied. “But I will cooperate with your plans.”

He chuckled, scratching his head. “Calling it a plan is being pretty generous. I’m just winging it here, to be honest with you.”

“That is fine,” she said. “Let us go.”

Ander set to work getting the carriage ready. It looked more like a wagon to Ariya, but she was sure Ander knew what he was talking about when he called it a carriage. The horses listened to him right away when he led them over and got them set up. He gave both of them some petting and apologized for interrupting them before climbing up onto the driver’s seat. He looked down and offered Lusya a hand.

“Ready when you are,” he said.

Lusya ignored his outstretched hand. She helped Ariya get on the seat, then climbed up by herself. Ander awkwardly raised his hand over his head like he’d been stretching and gripped the reins.

With Ariya and Lusya on board, it didn’t take long to reach the store in the carriage. Not that it had taken long walking, either. Ariya was starting to get used to the carriage now. She had been afraid she would fall at first, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. Besides, Lusya would catch her if it did.

“It might go better if we don’t all gang up on him,” Ander said. “So, you question him while you sell your books. I’ll pretend to browse with Ariya.”

Lusya cocked her head and blinked once. Ariya had gotten pretty good at reading Lusya’s expressions by now. She didn’t like what Ander had said, but she was considering it. Now, what it was she didn’t like was unclear. Ariya had gotten pretty good at reading her mood, but Lusya’s exact thoughts were still an enigma most of the time. After a moment, Lusya nodded.

“That is acceptable,” she said.

She got out the two books she wanted to sell, and they entered the store, splitting up like Ander had said. He led the way over to a rack of clothes and started looking through them. He might have had a convincing smile, but that didn’t make him a good actor. The way he rifled through the clothes, it was obvious he wasn’t paying much attention to what he was doing.

“Do we have to pretend?” Ariya asked, meeting his eyes with a conspiratorial grin. She had to look up pretty far to do that. He was over a head taller than Lusya, who already seemed huge to Ariya at times, though she knew Lusya was actually small for a grown-up.

He laughed. “Maybe we can buy you something if Lusya says it’s okay. I don’t think she’d appreciate me making that call on my own. Again.”

Lusya had started talking to the store manager. Her voice was quiet, as usual, so it was hard to make out what she was saying, but the manager was easier to hear, his tone loud and a bit high-pitched. It seemed like he was trying to sound confused and had landed on nervous instead.

“I have no idea what you mean,” he said. Like the innkeeper, he kept his smile plastered on his face. It was a little better, but not by much. “You’ll hardly find a more peaceful town than Mirewood in all of Ysuge.”

People here spoke Slarvish, so Ariya could still understand them. Lusya said that wouldn’t last, though. They were going to move into an area where people spoke Fyemish soon. That was a little scary, but Ariya couldn’t wait to try out the Fyemish Lusya had been teaching her.

“What exactly are you and Lusya doing together?” Ander asked without warning.

Ariya smiled at him. She was all ready to tell him about her super cool mission. How she was basically a new Hero of Balance, and how people were going to write stories about her, and everyone would know the name Ariya. Then, she remembered something important.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone about that,” she said, blushing at her lapse.

He frowned and glanced over at Lusya and the shopkeeper.

“Like I said, everything here is fine,” the man said. His smile had slipped, and he sounded annoyed now. “Now, how about we start appraising these books? I’m no expert, but I know a thing or two. I’m sure I can offer you a fair price.”

“Can you at least tell me what your relationship is?” Ander asked as he turned back to Ariya. “You don’t look like you’re related.”

That was true. Most people didn’t comment on it, but Ariya could tell they were thinking it. Obviously, there were differences because of age, but that wasn’t all. Lusya had really pretty white hair and red eyes. Together with her pointy ears, she looked like a reltus. Ariya’s eyes and hair were plain old brown, and her ears dull and round, marking her as human through and through. Well, according to Lusya, some people who were half-reltus and half-human could end up just looking like humans. But a lot of people didn’t know that, and the chances were still that someone who looked like Ariya was human.

Ariya still thought it was a little silly. She knew it wasn’t common, but she could have been friends with a reltus. There was no need to stare like so many people did. Granted, Lusya was actually a demon and not a reltus, but nobody else knew that. Lusya said looking like a reltus was normal for demons. The only other demon Ariya had met—that she knew of, at least—hadn’t looked anything like that, but she took Lusya’s word for it. It had to do with ranks or something, plus Lusya being half-human.

Well, Ariya wasn’t supposed to talk about their mission or any of that, and people prying about her and Lusya was almost as bad as the staring. But it was probably fine to tell Ander a little bit. Something about his tone told her he wasn’t trying to be rude.

“She’s my escort,” she said. She grinned. She could get that word right on the first try every time now. “She’s super cool and strong. She fights bad guys and monsters, and she’s saved me a whole bunch of times.”

She wasn’t sure why, but Ander’s brow furrowed at that. He pursed his lips and looked to Lusya again, then back to Ariya.

“She sounds like a good escort,” he said, his smile returning. “And you sound like you really like her.”

“I love her,” Ariya said. “She’s awesome.”

"That’s good to hear. It seems like she likes you too,” he said. “Doesn’t seem like she cares for me, though.”

“Well, you did stare at her boobs a lot,” Ariya said.

She wasn’t sure why that was rude, but Mama and Papa had made sure she knew that it was, even when no one was naked. Both so she didn’t do it to other people, and she knew not to let people do it to her when she got older.

Ander let out a nervous chuckle and blushed. “I mean…” He made a weird gesture with his hands in front of his chest, like he was holding something. “How could I not, right?”

Ariya just tilted her head and blinked twice in confusion.

“Sorry,” he said softly, looking away. “Forgot who I was talking to for a second there.”

Ariya smiled. “Well, anyway, it’s okay. It’s not just you, Lusya doesn’t like that many people.”

“That…kind of makes me feel better,” he said, scratching his head and smiling nervously.

Lusya came walking back over to them, the books still in her arms. Ander turned toward her as she neared.

“He is checking to see if these books are listed in a catalog he has,” Lusya said. “He is evading my questions like the other one.” Her head tilted just a bit, almost too little to see. She was not happy. “I will make one more attempt to get information from him when he returns.”

Ander nodded. “Sounds good. Thanks for helping, Lusya. I know you didn’t want to.”

“Thanks are unnecessary,” she replied. “I am only participating for Ariya’s sake.”

He smiled. “I know. But it still helps me out. So, thank you.”

“I see,” she said. “You are welcome.”

He peered at the books she was holding and gasped.

“You didn’t tell me you read The War of Three!” he exclaimed, his face lighting up with an almost manic smile.

Lusya glanced at the book. “I saw little reason to.”

“That’s one of my favorite books,” he said, leaning forward in his excitement. “Did you like it?”

“I thought it was cool,” Ariya said. “There were a lot of characters to keep track of though. I kept forgetting who some of them were.”

He nodded and laughed. “Yeah, even I had some trouble with that.”

“I did not have any particular problems with it,” Lusya said. “I rather enjoyed it. The interconnected plot threads were interesting to follow.” She paused, then cocked her head and blinked twice. “I did not understand Luic’s actions at the end, however.”

“He was just a good person,” Ariya said matter-of-factly.

“That is not an explanation.”

Ariya thought it was. And she hadn’t even liked that part. Way too sad. Luic, one of the main characters, died trying to fight three whole armies. His death was super long, and everybody kept reminding him and the reader that he was an idiot for doing it.

“I think she’s actually kind of got it,” Ander said. He shrugged. “What’s not to understand?”

Lusya blinked again. That meant she didn’t feel like her question had been answered. “His actions had no chance of success and accomplished nothing. The narrative makes it clear he is aware of this. I do not understand why he went through with them.”

“Well, they did kind of shame everyone else into stopping,” Ander said. “But he wasn’t planning on that, so that’s not the point. I’m not the writer, but I’m pretty sure it’s what Ariya said. He just couldn’t stand not to do the right thing, even if there was no actual point.”

“I see,” Lusya said. “So, he prioritized moral principles over practical concerns to an extreme degree.”

Ander nodded. “Pretty much. Honestly, that kind of strength, doing what you think is right no matter what the world says, is something I admire. I kind of want to be like that someday.” He laughed and scratched his head. “Maybe a little bit smarter about it though.”

Lusya’s eyes opened ever so slightly wider, and she nodded. “I understand now. Thank you for explaining.”

She turned and walked back over to the counter without waiting for a response. Ariya nudged Ander with her elbow to get his attention and smirked at him.

He blinked. “What?”

“You got an eye-widen,” she said.

“Wait, did her expression change?” he asked. He whirled to look at Lusya like he might notice now, but her back was turned, though eye-widens didn’t last that long anyway. “Is that good?”

She nodded. “It’s basically a smile. Maybe not as happy, but still, pretty much the same.”

“I’m surprised you can tell,” he said, his gaze still fixed on Lusya’s back. “I might need you to translate going forward.”

She gave him a thumbs-up and grinned. “Leave it to me.”

The manager returned to the counter a moment later. “Sorry it took so long.”

“It is fine,” Lusya replied. “Your continued deception, however, is not. My companions wish to know what is happening here.”

“Would it kill her to be a little less…honest?” Ander muttered.

“Lusya doesn’t know how to lie,” Ariya said.

Ander scowled in obvious confusion. “She…what? How could a—How is that possible? You just say something that’s not true. It’s not complicated. ‘I have brown hair.’ ‘The sky is red.’ ‘Tiny purple elephants secretly rule the world.’”

Ariya shrugged. “That’s what she told me. And I’m pretty sure I’ve never heard her actually lie. Sometimes she doesn’t say stuff on purpose, though, or she says something that’s true but not the best answer.”

“That’s still kind of lying,” Ander said. “Still, interesting.”

Before Ariya could respond, a piercing scream cut through the room.

“Ow, shadows, you’re gonna break it, let go!” the manager cried out.

Ariya and Ander whirled to see Lusya gripping his hand. He was trying to pull it out of her hold, but it wasn’t working. Of course it wasn’t, Lusya was way too strong. She was so cool.

“Fine, it’s bandits, okay?” he said. He tried prying and clawing at her fingers, but that wasn’t any more successful than tugging on his arm. “Some bandits caused some trouble not too long ago. Now let go!”

Lusya released the man’s hand, and he yanked it away from her, stumbling and almost losing his balance. He was saved when he backed into a shelf behind him and grabbed it for support. There were coins in Lusya’s hand, a few which had spilled out when she opened it. She collected them and stowed them away in her coin purse.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” she said.

The manager rubbed his hand with the other, glaring at her. “Yeah, you’re welcome. Now, I’m not telling you anymore.” He thrust his hand toward the door, then winced and pulled it back to cradle against his chest with tears in his eyes. “Get out.”

Lusya nodded and walked away. Ander and Ariya followed her out of the store.

“It seems there was a bandit problem,” Lusya said.

“Yeah, we heard,” Ander said. “You didn’t have to hurt him.”

“I did not injure him,” she said. “He will be fine.”

“Still…” He sighed. “No harm, no foul, I guess. Still, it doesn’t sound like that’s the whole story. It’s possible something really bad happened, or that the bandits are still around. I think we should see if we can learn more.”

“We may question three more citizens,” Lusya said. “I will not dedicate the day to questioning every single person here.”

Ander looked like he wanted to argue, but he just nodded. “That’s fair.”

He looked around and hurried over to a man who was passing by, carrying a bundle of sticks under one arm.

“Excuse me,” Ander said, “could I ask you some questions about the bandit attacks?”

The man’s eyes widened, and his face went pale, then he shook his head like a leaf in the wind. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Then he all but sprinted away. Ander sighed and waited for another villager, a woman this time, to get close. He tried asking her the same question, but he didn’t have any more luck.

“Don’t you dare talk about that!” the woman shouted before leaving like the man before her.

“They do not seem cooperative,” Lusya said.

Ander nodded, pursing his lips in thought. “Maybe the bandits are still around? If they’re afraid of being hurt if they talk, that would explain a lot.”

That made sense to Ariya. The people here acted a lot like the ones back in the village with the demon.

“Perhaps, but I suspect we would already have been attacked if that was the case. At the least, your carriage would likely have been targeted.”

“It depends on how subtle they’re trying to be,” he said. “But you’re probably right.”

No bandits could ever stand a chance against Lusya, of course. But they wouldn’t have known that. Most people couldn’t tell how strong Lusya was. That did make sense. She didn’t look that dangerous. Ariya almost wanted them to attack so Lusya could show them, and Ariya could see her fight. But Ariya knew that would be trouble, and she didn’t want anyone to get hurt. That was why it was only “almost.”

“Maybe they already got in trouble,” Ariya said. “I always feel bad the whole day after Papa yells at me.”

Ander blinked. “That’s actually not a bad observation.” Ariya didn’t know why he sounded so surprised. “They might just be reeling from something that’s already done with.”

“Perhaps,” Lusya replied.

“Well, hopefully we’ll find out now,” he said as another woman neared. “Hey, excuse me, can I ask you some questions?”

The woman slowed down, hesitated, and walked over. “What can I help you with?”

Ander looked around, leaned close, and lowered his voice. “It’s about the bandits.”

The woman paled. “I wouldn’t know anything about any bandits.”

She started to walk away, but Ander put a hand on her shoulder, giving her pause.

“Please, I want to help,” he said. He gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m training to be a Sacred Knight. Helping people is what I do.”

The woman looked him up and down with watery eyes, then nodded, slow and hesitant. “What do you want to know?”

“Are they still around?” he asked. “Are you being threatened? Is that why everyone’s so jumpy and suspicious?”

The woman shook her head. “No, it’s nothing like that. I’m certain they’re gone.”

“Then what is the cause of this behavior?” Lusya asked.

“Did everybody eat something bad and get sick?” Ariya asked.

The woman smiled at her, then looked away, rubbing at her eyes.

Ariya frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” the woman said. “We did.” She took deep breath and gulped, like there was something stuck in her throat. “The bandits, they were involved in the slave trade. To save the rest of the village, we gave up some people for them to sell. Mostly children.”

Ariya gasped. She’d learned about slavery from some of the books she and Lusya had read, and it sounded awful. The whole having to do what people said thing didn’t seem that bad. Ariya had to do what Lusya said, after all, and Mama and Papa before that. Everything else was terrible though. Wearing chains, getting hit for mistakes, eating awful food. It was like being in timeout times a thousand.

“That is why there are so few children here?” Lusya asked.

The woman nodded. “It wasn’t all of them, but folk are keeping the ones left inside right now, even though the bandits are gone. I’ll admit, we are a little scared they might come back.” She sobbed. “But I’m so ashamed. I’m sure everyone feels the same way. That’s why…we don’t want anyone to find out what we did.”

“You don’t have to be ashamed,” Ander said with a soft smile. “You did what you needed to to survive. Maybe it was wrong, but no one will blame you for it. And we’ll do what we can to fix it. Where did you last see them?”

“The bandits? They left a few weeks back now, heading north. You’ll really help us?”

He nodded.

“Thank you.”

The woman smiled back at him, and he let her go. She walked away, and he waved as she did.

“Thanks for your help!” he called after her. He turned and started marching off down the road.

“Where are you going?” Lusya asked.

He stopped and turned to look at her with a blank expression, like she had just asked if grass was green. “I’m going to track down the bandits. Once we find them, all we need to do is take them down.”

Lusya cocked her head and blinked twice. “How do you plan to find them? And why on foot?”

“Um, well…” Ander said, scratching his head. “I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. And I just got a little too fired up…”

“What you are proposing is a fool’s errand,” she said. “Go if you wish, but I will have no part of it.”

Ander scowled. “Finding them will be hard, but I’m a Sacred Knight in training, and you’ve gotta be pretty strong traveling with just that tiny dagger. I’m sure we can handle it, and the bandits themselves will be no problem.”

“That is true,” she replied. “However, all we know is that they went north weeks ago. They could have gone anywhere after the villagers lost track of them. I will not scour the continent in search of these bandits.”

Ariya frowned. If they had hurt these people, she really wanted Lusya to get rid of the bandits. But she knew they had something important to do, and Lusya was right. They might have never found the bandits looking now.

Ander sighed. “You’re right. If we had any better leads on where they were, I would insist. But we don’t. With just the two of us, we might never find them now.”

“I’m here too,” Ariya said, waving her arms in case he had forgotten.

He chuckled. “Right, sorry. That does help, but I still don’t think three is enough.” His expression turned serious again as he looked back to Lusya. “We’ll report everything we know when we get to Larsev, okay?”

“I have no objections to that,” Lusya said. “Let us depart.”