The Viscount's butler opened the door for the trio, and they filed out into the hallway. The butler shook his head at them as they passed, then entered the meeting room and closed the door behind himself, leaving them alone.

  Fiadh gave them a pained look as they walked towards the mess hall. "Well... it could've been worse?"

  "The stay of execution was a pleasant surprise."

  Anna frowned. "What's an execution?"

  If looks could kill, Saul would be a dead man from the way Fiadh was looking at him right then.

  She turned to Anna and smiled apologetically. "Can you ask that again later, Anna?"

  Anna shrugged. "Sure, Ser Crowley."

  Fiadh laughed, not unkindly. "Well, I'm not a Ser anymore. I'm just Fiadh now."

  "That's strange. Why did your name change?"

  "Because Saul and I made a choice that was against our leader's wishes. Because of that, I'm no longer a knight."

  "Saul told me a while ago about how you were a Ser. What did that mean? You don't look any different."

  Fiadh nodded. "Well... it's actually a pretty big deal. When I was a knight, I could provide for my family from a long way away, and there were a lot of things I could do to make our lives better. Now, though, it's a lot harder for me to do that."

  Anna nodded. "I think I understand. It's like how hunters bring back game. Even if only one of the them hunt something, the whole ?ar gets to eat. You would do that for your family, in a way, right? You were a hunter?"

  Fiadh laughed. "That's a good way to put it. But think of it like... I was a hunter of men."

  Anna's eyes grew large. "You mean you'd shoot other humans with bows?"

  Fiadh was having trouble getting words out, she was laughing so hard. "No! No, nothing like that. I would subdue them, and take them into custody."

  "Subdue? Custody?"

  "Ah, subdue is to stop, and custody is control. I would put them somewhere where they won't do bad things anymore."

  "Oh! That's cool! My ?ar didn't have one of those."

  "Really? What did you do with bad demons, then?"

  Anna shrugged. "We just made them leave. We don't get many bad ones at all, but when we do, we all feel them, so it's better to make them go."

  Anna and Fiadh were still talking when they made it to the mess hall, and took a seat at an empty table. Saul stopped channeling the dead man's resolve upon sitting in his chair, and sagged into his seat. He looked every inch his age in that moment.

  Anna turned to Saul. "?adar? You seem more tired than usual. What's wrong?"

  Saul gave her a smile, but Anna didn't need a sixth sense to see it was faked. "I'll be fine, Anna."

  "All ?adar are liars. It is known."

  Saul winced. "It's related to our talk about the stay of execution... can you wait until then?"

  "The more you protest, the more I worry, and the less I care about waiting, Saul." She put a hand on Saul's back. "Please, tell me. I can carry whatever is weighing on you."

  Saul looked to Fiadh, and she nodded. "We should do this somewhere less public. I don't know how she'll take the news."

  Saul sighed. "Good point. Any ideas?"

  "Perhaps it's best to go up to the battlements? It's quiet enough, and gives us a spot to look out over the forest."

  Anna smiled. "That sounds nice. Does the wind blow up there? The walls are so high."

  Fiadh smiled back. "There's always a cool breeze at the top. If you look closely, you can even see your ?ar in the encampment, though it's covered a bit by the houses."

  And so they walked. Saul didn't have problems getting up, despite that fit of weakness, and he was grateful for that.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  The walk to the barracks still had that strange feeling of acceptance from the soldiers, with a twist: the new support staff that came with the Viscount treated them with suspicion and even stared at Anna's horns with some amount of revulsion as they passed. Saul heard an occasional argument spring up from the soldiers they left behind in their wake.

  The news of Fiadh's demotion hadn't reached the soldiers in the barracks, but they still let the trio up onto the battlements after hearing Fiadh's explanation (she may have come off a bit heated, understandably so).

  One of them, a ruddy, heavyset fellow built like a barrel, spit to the side after hearing her version of events. "Bloody ridiculous, that. What were you to do? I thought of it m'self while we were clappin' 'em in iron -no offense, lass- not that I doubted your judgement, Miss Crowley, Ser- but they had not a scrap of vittles in their bags. Not a good sign for ransom, not at all. And he wanted us to off 'em? Not an ounce of reason in that man."

  Anna smiled at that. "You have the right of it, sir."

  The man was delighted. "She speaks, and so well, too! I'd think you a noble lass with that pretty dress." He gave a bow, smiling at the chuckles from the other soldiers. "'M'lady."

  Anna bowed back. "M'lady."

  Everyone cracked up around a bewildered Anna. Saul leaned in and whispered, "he's a sir, Anna. Men can't be ladies; it's not proper."

  Anna frowned. "Lady is a title, like Ser, no? How can he not?"

  The soldier in particular took a long moment to catch his breath before responding. "Oh my days, lass, that's a good'un."

  Two of his pals piped up. "You've bewildered the lady with your looks!" "What'll the missus think?"

  He turned to the first one, grinning. "Oi, don't you start, you daft bi-"

  "Watch it!" Fiadh gave him a warning look, but it was ruined by her grin. "Let's go before Anna learns too many new words."

  The steps up to the battlements were at the back of the barracks, and followed the inside of the wall. From her position at the top, She could see the entire layout of the fort. The milling people below looked as large as her finger. Then, when she turned around, she could see the roofs of houses up until the supply wagons started, and then the encampment beyond that, with its smoke trails from campfires.

  The sky was dark grey, and a cool breeze flowed over the trio. Anna shivered and brought out her popbush berry, drawing a little heat.

  Fiadh let Anna spend some time looking around before clearing her throat. "Anna, so, about that talk."

  Anna turned to look at them, hands clasped around the berry. "I'm ready, Fiadh."

  Fiadh gave Saul a nod, and Saul got a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Maybe we should wait..."

  She took a deep breath. "Execution is a ritual killing. At the end of this campaign, Saul will be-"

  "Fiadh!"

  "What, you think we can just ease her in to this? Soft words won't help, Saul. If I know anything, I know that there's pain now, or pain later. The facts are this: if you don't manage to prove that you can be trusted, you'll be killed."

  The breeze didn't feel cool anymore. Saul pulled his cloak tighter around himself.

  "Saul?"

  Saul turned to meet Anna's eyes, and looked away. He didn't like the look she was giving him. He knew that look; he'd seen it before. "She has the right of it. If I don't prove that I'm trustworthy during this campaign, my life is forfeit."

  "But... Why? Is he a bad man?"

  "He's not bad; he's just young. He doesn't know people."

  "But you can show him, can't you? Then this all goes away." Even as she said it, she seemed uncertain, and Saul shook his head.

  "It's not that simple, Anna. Shamans and magic aren't commonly understood- not by humans, at least. His people would think I bewitched him."

  "You're sure he can't be reasoned with?"

  "He's a man of absolutes."

  Anna shook her head. "I don't think that's true. If he was, he would have killed you outright, for keeping me."

  Saul paused, contemplating. "True, but even if we can change his mind, it will be through the results of this campaign; I can't hope to change his mind here."

  "You think he won't speak with you?"

  Saul waved his hand. "I think he will only speak to me through necessity."

  Fiadh jumped in. "You're the only one with a direct connection to the ?ar. Surely that means something?"

  Saul sighed. "It really all depends on what he decides to do with the threat of the coming army- if they're even coming." Saul gave Fiadh a sideways look. "I both thank you and curse you for that."

  Fiadh winced. "Not my best moment, but we got out of there in one piece, alive. I couldn't ask for more."

  "But, now all we can do is wait?" Anna looked close to tears. "But- we did everything right! We got him his dumb fort, we saved my ?ar, we kept each other fed, then he walked in and ruined it all... it's not fair."

  Saul didn't have anything to say, so he just rubbed her back while she cried it out. Fiadh joined the pair too, wrapping her arms around both of them.

  They were up there for some time; the dark sky was beginning to darken, and the breeze was getting colder. Standing so close to Saul, Anna could feel the warmth of his kindling on her face- and Fiadh, on her other side, felt like a b?w with her strong arms. If Anna closed her eyes, she could almost believe she was home again.

  Saul was the first to break the silence. "Anna... We'll be alright."

  "How can you know?"

  "I know because of one fact: we are here, and you are here too. As I live and breath, that will not change. I will not let that change."

  Anna liked the sound of that.

  When they had enough of the chilly air and the looming rain, they fled down into the barracks, heading toward the mess hall. The barracks had a new round of soldiers, but at this hour they were all resting except for a few, who nodded to the trio as they left.

  The mess hall had a clear line of separation between the support staff and soldiers, and the tension was almost palpable. I guess this kind of division will be consistent, as long as Langley maintains an anti-demon stance, Saul supposed. They all got their food -Fiadh got a drink- and sat down on the soldier's side. Fiadh moved to sit with some of her mates, leaving Saul and Anna together.

  "Well... what a day, huh?"

  "It was a bad day, filled with bad-waiting."

  "Oh, come now, Anna! You're supposed to be cheering me up."

  "That's why you have kindling, isn't it? So you don't feel something like this."

  "It's one of the benefits, yes."

  "?u?j." Anna cursed. Saul knew what she meant.

  Tomorrow would be a better day, they hoped.