Chapter 43 - How

Following Isabel, who held her head high, Mila plodded towards the table, where Silinth, Hanna and Andrew were waiting. Mr Crow was likely out scouting, which he took seriously and did for most of the day.

When Mila finally sat down, she unwillingly started to speak. “I will be the one making the contact-” She paused and got a nudge in the side from Isabel. “-and Isabel will be joining me.”

Hanna didn’t look all too pleased. “I would prefer if it was me or Harry. It involves my family.” She countered.

“You are not a fighter, Hanna. And neither is Harry.” Silinth yawned. “I would rather it be Mila, and Isabel is an excellent wall. She can take a surprise attack or two. And we need you to mix up that medicine for me and heal. It helps, you know.”

That was a lie. Mila didn’t outwardly react, but she sent her senses towards the man to see the effects of the said medicine, which he had just taken.

The situation had grown worse. Silinth’s inner world was a disgusting mess. He reeked of wrongness to Mila’s senses.

As for Hanna’s medicine and treatment? It was as if nothing had been done.

“I would prefer if it was Hanna.” Andrew inserted while glaring at Mila. “I don’t think Mila is a reasonable person that can be trusted to make a decision that has our all best interests in mind.”

“What does that mean?” Isabel challenged Andrew’s input with a fierce glare of her own.

“It means-” Andrew was not deterred.

“Stop!” Hanna slammed her palms on the table, stopping the argument. “You won’t do this at MY home when MY family is at risk!”

While both of the culprits still looked ready to fight, they backed down under Hanna’s righteous fury.

“I won’t make any impactful decisions without Hanna’s input.” Mila ignored the heated atmosphere. She understood where Andrew was coming from. From their group, he was what she considered to be most well-adjusted.

It didn’t mean he was right or wrong, just that he kept his values learned back on Earth at heart and morals untainted.

It was admirable. Mila couldn’t do that. Her heart was too hardened for it.

And Isabel…

Honestly, Mila didn’t get that part of her girl. It wasn’t like Isabel was a stranger to compassion. She disliked killing and wasn’t bloodthirsty.

But Isabel had not blamed Mila for taking drastic steps in how she dealt with problems.

This acceptance was… A welcome change in Mila’s life. It wasn’t something she had searched for, but now that it was there, it was something that anchored her. Something that allowed her to re-evaluate her outlook.

“Fine. I’ll trust Silinth’s judgement.” Hanna finally sighed. Her hand instinctively reached beneath her clothes, where she hid the mixes she used to keep herself calm and awake.

Only to stop when Hanna realised the company she had. While Mila and Silinth didn’t reprimand her, nor did they tell Harry, Andrew and Isabel were not as trusted.

She didn’t say anything, but Mila suspected Hanna was dangerously close to going down the path her mother had. The woman was abusing her own concoctions.

“Then the question is when.” Silinth stretched. He was still out of it after yesterday's session of boozing. The little amount of sleep hadn’t been quite enough.

“Now.” Mila looked at Isabel. “If you don’t mind.”

“Now you care,” Isabel grumbled. Despite the earlier heartfelt conversation, the girl was still harbouring a grudge. “Let me get my gear. Then we can go.”

Mila looked towards Andrew. “I assume Mr Crow is checking out the location.”

“Yeah, he is. You owe him a lot of treats. A lot of them for all the scouting he has done lately.” Andrew didn’t hide his displeasure with Mila. He was grimacing and muttering under his breath. “Why am I helping you anyway?” Another grumble slipped out of his mouth.

No one answered. Everyone left the dining room to prepare. Mila didn’t need to do much. After freshening up and dropping her dark cloak, she settled outside to wait.

Silinth was the first to join her, now draped in a beggar's attire, followed by Andrew, who was still in a foul mood.

Mila doubted it would improve much. It didn't help that she didn’t see anything worth apologising for. She had killed Nolman, yes, but that traitor could not be left alive.

And finally, Isabel appeared now carrying her sword at her side and a simple kite shield in hand, similar to what she could summon. “I am ready.” She hyped herself up.

Andrew whistled, and a moment later, Mr Crow dropped from the sky. Before starting to chirp, the young bird sent Mila one of his patented dirty looks. Once that was done, he cawed in his bond's ear, telling all that he had seen.

“Anything worthwhile?” Silinth lazily weaved a spell that was meant to put another safety net around the Obron’s family compound.

“A couple of people hiding on the roofs. One sitting on a bench, otherwise, just a few early birds going about their business.” Andrew kept listening. “It seems that guards are out in force, though.”

“And the Temple?” Mila wondered.

After a series of chirps, Andrew shook his head. “Nothing unusual.”

“I am going ahead.” Silinth finished his spell, and it settled on the premises. “Gotta go and see for myself.” He stifled another yawn.

It didn’t stop Mila from yawning. It had been a long night, and the rest was still a way off. “We will be there in half an hour.” She estimated. “Maybe a bit more.” Her gaze wandered to where Isabel was facing Andrew in a glaring match.

At least her girl wasn’t doing that to Mila. Though she suspected, Isabel wasn’t done with grilling her.

It quickly proved true once they found themselves on the street. Mila had just settled in walking next to Isabel when her girl took a jab at her.

“So! After your dumb move, do you think they will be hostile?”

“It felt perfectly logical at the time.” Mila made a feeble attempt at defence. Isabel didn’t look impressed. “I don’t know.” She sighed. “Maybe?”

“What were you doing out that late anyway?” Isabel wondered.

“I had a test to run.” Mila didn’t plan to hide her newfound ability from Isabel. “It’s not something we can talk about on the streets, though.”

“And it involved killing that dumb teacher?”

“Yes. It played a large part.” Mila admitted. She didn’t look forward to the following conversation.

“So, learnt anything?”

“What?” Mila let her surprise show, and it took her a moment before she gathered herself.

“What, what?

“No, I-” Mila hesitated. “I thought you would ask if that was necessary. Maybe to avoid killing if necessary. Possibly to learn how it feels like.” She tried to wrap her head around how her love’s head worked. “You know, something like that.” She added lamely.

“Uh,” Isabel kicked a pebble. “I mean, I am wondering about that stuff too. It’s just that-” She tried to find words. “I don’t know. It feels kind of unimportant?”

“Are you asking me?”

“No, no.” Isabel denied it. “I get it. Human life and all that. Andrew keeps hounding me about it. He thinks you are a bad influence on me. Well, kind of. He just thinks you are too ruthless.”

“I have been made aware.” Mila pursed her lips.

“But then again, this is not Earth.” Mila kicked another pebble. “I don’t expect the world to bend to my wishes.”

“Isabel,” Mila had something to add. “How I act and what I do is not normal.” She looked into her girl’s eyes. “It is not something that needs to be copied.”

Isabel’s eyes filled with gentleness, and for a moment, she looked like she was about to hug Mila. “Yeah, well, are you planning to change your ‘wise’ ways?” She spoke instead.

“That is a good question.” Mila hummed. “Perhaps with time. If the world around us calms down, then I would not be against it.” She was still confident in her choices. Even if the results had been… Not optimal.

“That’s a tough ask.” Isabel scoffed. “You are about to poke a hornet's nest.”

“I wish it could be done differently, but-” Mila didn’t know how to explain her reasoning to Isabel. “But back to the issue. Why haven’t you asked about it?”

“Uh,” Isabel scratched her head. “I have been preoccupied.”

“With what?” Mila wondered.

Isabel sent her a flat stare. “Guess.”

It took a moment for Mila to understand what Isabel was saying. “Me?” She was slightly surprised.

“Among other things.” Isabel blushed. “I mean, it’s hard to-,” She started to flounder. “You just kind of started to flirt and- No, not that! It’s difficult to explain, okay?”

Difficult was the right word. Mila didn’t know what to think. Why was Isabel like this? Mila had her circumstances of why she was desensitised to death, but her girl wasn’t the same.

Isabel tried to explain anyway. “You know, it’s like, you have this aura sometimes.” She blabbered. “Like you are going to stab everyone. And well, you do that too. I mean, stab people. It’s part of you, and I just accept it.”

“I see.” Mila felt her lips form a small smile, but it quickly vanished when she realised there was something else she had to say. “Isabel, there is something else.” She gathered her courage.

“That does not sound good.” Isabel stopped the torrent of sentences and focused her attention on Mila.

“It’s about Silinth.” Mila pondered how to reveal the news.

“Yes?”

“He is… Sick.” Mila tried.

“Well, yeah. Hanna has been healing him.”

“She has, but there have not been any improvements,” Mila didn’t hide it.

“But he said…”

“There hasn’t. Silinth is quickly getting worse.” Milla mulled over her following words. There was still information that Isabel was not ready to hear. “It’s terminal, and his emotions have been hazardous lately due to that.”

“Oh,” Isabel tried to digest what she had heard. “How quickly?”

“That’s not the important question, Isabel,” Mila stated. “The problem is his emotions.”

“How so?” Isabel didn’t quite get it.

“There are some things I can’t say, but he isn’t as reliable as he was. And soon he will be a danger.”

“Oh, of course, there are.” Isabel groaned. “This is just getting worse and worse.”

“Yes, and-” Mila bumped into Isabel. “Do you trust me?”

“I do.”

There was no hesitation or doubt in Isabel.

“During tomorrow’s raid, there might be an unforeseen danger for Silinth.” Mila sent a meaningful glance to Isabel.

Isabel frowned. “Sounds like a sucky idea. Is this your overconfidence in your judgement speaking?”

“I wish it was.” Mila sighed. “But no, this is something that has to be done.”

“Mila,” There was a warning in Isabel’s voice. “I was there when Silinth fought that Kaldiro guy. You were there, too. This is not a good idea.”

“He is a danger to you, Isabel.” Mila didn’t necessarily disagree with Isabel, but-

“Okay, then I’ll help.” Isabel simply stated.

Once again, Mila was lost. “Come again?”

“You heard me. Put me into your plan.”

“No, no, that’s not necessary.” Mila hurried to protest. “It has to come as a surprise.”

“Yes, so I can be a distraction.” Isabel tried to reason.

“We already agreed that you will stay out of that plan.” Mila reminded.

“And the situation changed.”

“Isabel, you do understand what you are suggesting,” Mila muttered.

“It was a question of time.” Isabel flippantly replied.

“It doesn’t have to be like this.” Mila tried to reason her girl out of the idea. “There are going to be other distractions.”

“And if not?”

It was a reasonable question to ask. Mila didn’t like this. Not one bit. “I will find a way.” She spat out.

“I am sure you will. But if not, put me into your plans. I’ll be ready.”

“Isabel!” It was Mila’s turn to warn her girl.

“Mila,” Isabel returned. “We had a conversation about this stupid shit earlier, and you lost that time.”

“I didn’t ‘lose’.” Mila couldn’t believe what Isabel was saying. “It wasn’t a competition.”

“And yet, I got what I wanted.” Isabel pushed on.

“This is madness!” Mila exclaimed. She didn’t know what to do.

“Ah, yes. Says the girl who wants to murder an old super powerful wizard.” Isabel complained under her breath.

“You are impossible!”

“And you love me!” Isabel victoriously announced, then blushed hard. Her own words seemed to take all the wind out of her sails. She covered her face with her palms to hide from Mila.

“Don’t use cuteness on me!” Mila felt indignant. “That’s not fair. Stop that this instant!”

But Isabel kept hiding. She stumbled and stopped. “Uh, please, give me a moment.”

“What even is this?” Mila wanted to know.

How did this happen? What now? This wasn’t a mood in which she could keep arguing!

“Just a moment more.” Isabel crouched. “I need to calm down.”

Mila was torn between wanting to keep reasoning with Isabel and wishing to tease her.

It was clear what Mila had to do.

“Oh, but we could find a quieter spot so that I can help you with that.” Mila purred before she could stop.

Mila facepalmed right after cursing her glib tongue.