Liliene didn’t have the luxury of going home and making herself presentable. Her preparations amounted to running her fingers through her hair and scraping as much dirt as she could from beneath her nails. When the bushes rustled and Laura finally appeared, she straightened.
“Lili!”
Laura ran toward them, took Liliene’s hands in hers, and nodded to Nex. She frowned, then took another good look at the two of them.
“What happened? You look terrible.”
“Told you,” Nex said unhelpfully.
“And you’re hurt!” Laura added, seeing the marks on Nex’s cheek and her torn clothes.
“They hurt more. No, wait. I don’t think they hurt anymore,” Nex said.
The blood drained from Laura’s face, and Liliene squeezed her hands for reassurance.
“You warned us yesterday. We ran into people. They… They attacked us. This morning.”
“The church?”
“Hm.” Liliene nodded.
“Are they…”
Laura didn’t finish her sentence, but her question was obvious. Liliene didn’t answer either. She simply avoided her gaze.
They stayed silent for a while. Laura’s mind reeled. Her lover (work in progress, but it was only a matter of time) had killed people. Or at least watched Nex do the killing. She knew it was always going to be a possibility, maybe an inevitability, even. But Liliene wasn’t gloating or grinning; she wasn’t even looking particularly happy about it. So Laura did the only thing she could: she forced a smile.
“I… I see.” She looked hesitantly between the two and hugged Liliene. “I’m glad you’re fine.”
The arms around her waist were a godsend, yet Liliene had to reject it. She weakly pushed Laura away, who blinked in surprise.
“Don’t.” She pleaded with her eyes. “I’m really hungry right now.”
Laura frowned until she noticed where Liliene was looking: at her neck.
“Oh.” Laura’s hand rose to her neck, not to hide, but to trace the marks of the bite Liliene had left all those years ago. “Do you want to…”
“Miss Laura,” Nex interrupted. “I don’t think now is the time. If the men who ambushed us aren’t stupid, they also sent a messenger before setting up their ambush. Meaning we need to move. Today.”
“No!” Laura said despite herself. “I can prepare in a day. Just don’t… Don’t leave without me again.”
Laura stepped back closer to Liliene and held her hands.
“Besides, you’ll need some of our trinkets. Your eyes, and…” She trailed off, looking at Nex’s horns. “We’ll find something for Nex’s horns.”
Liliene turned toward Nex for confirmation, maybe so she could say it was alright to wait for Laura.
“As long as we’re ready before nightfall, I think it’ll work out. We also won’t be taking the direct road for the capital; the chances of running into their reinforcements are too high.”
Liliene smiled, hope creeping back into her heart. “We could make a detour home. Laura could check on Mama,” she said, holding Laura’s gaze with trusting eyes. “You could find something.”
Faced with such naked trust, Laura didn’t have it in herself to smother Liliene’s enthusiasm.
“I’ll try.” She pulled on Liliene’s hand to guide her away. “But first, you need to eat something. You look like you’re going to pass out.”
They made their way to Laura’s shop. The bell above the door dinged when Laura opened it. The inside looked only marginally nicer than a junk shop. On the various wooden shelves stood baubles of all sorts, the price tags increasing with each shelf. Near the entrance was a vase, and inside it was a messy collection of necklaces that Liliene instantly recognized.
Behind the counter, busying herself with a scale, stood a middle-aged woman of roughly Laura’s height. She wore her fiery red hair up in a bun. Elise’s powerful build would have made the lumberjacks from yesterday look scrawny next to her.
“Welcome!” Elise said from behind the counter, her face bearing a wide smile. “Oh, sweetie, it’s just you. And…” Her smile faded as her eyes landed on the two guests. “Nex…” she greeted coldly. “And is that little Lili? Damn, you’ve grown pretty.”
“Hi,” Liliene said with a timid wave. She had many things she wanted to say, but none of them managed to get out.
“Mom, please. Can I fix them something to eat? We won’t linger, I promise.”
Elise looked at them. They indeed looked like shit. Nex had bloodied cuts and torn clothes; Liliene looked paler than a clean, white sheet. But if they were to be found inside her shop… Especially after the last time. Still, seeing her daughter’s eyes, she sighed.
“Alright, but be quick about it.”
“So that’s what you look like up there,” Elise said, eyeing the horns for the first time. “Can’t say it looks bad on you.”
“Thank you.” Nex was a little taken aback, having expected something else. Maybe anger, or resentment. “You look good yourself.”
“I don’t. I aged, and I know it. Can’t say the same about you.” Elise leaned, resting her elbows on the counter. “So. Why are you here? To feed us more lies?”
Nex thinned her lips. “We never lied to you, Elise. I’m really just in my thirties. We’re really from around here. Hell, you’re the one on our territory, and Liliene’s your princess. Though, I suppose she’s not really sickly.” She weighed the pros and cons of lying about Laura’s plan, but opted for the truth. “As for why we’re in your shop specifically, is a discussion you need to have with your daughter.”
Elise frowned at first, then grumbled. “Close the shop for me,” she said, nodding toward the door with her chin. She stomped out of the shop, through the same door Laura and Liliene had used, and didn’t look back.
Nex apologized in her head, turned the sign to ‘closed,’ and locked the door.
Back in the living room, Liliene had her head in a plate, devouring simple sandwiches when the door burst open.
“Laura Messer. Sit down.”
“But. I didn’t do anything!” Laura exclaimed and sat down at the table anyway.
Liliene made herself smaller and focused intently on her sandwich. Such texture. Such deep taste. No, she wasn’t hearing anything other than the crunch of the salad inside her mouth.
Elise looked intently at Liliene, whose head was buried in her plate, pretending nothing around her was happening. “That’s my princess?” she asked Nex, raising an eyebrow.
Nex gestured vaguely toward Liliene. “Not her best angle.”
Liliene looked at her with wide eyes, hoping for some explanation for what was happening all of a sudden.
“Trust me. It’s never a good idea to lie to your mother-in-law,” Nex said, shaking her head.
“Mother-in-law?” Elise repeated slowly.
Elise looked at Liliene, who was courageously looking at her plate, then back at her daughter, who had magically summoned a sunburn to her cheeks and was pulling on her braids like a girl half her age.
“We’re… We’re not there… Yet.”
Her fighting spirit now vanquished, Elise sat down and let out a weary sigh. “Laura, I don’t know where they’re going, and truly I don’t care. But you are not going with them.”
“We’re… going to the capital,” Liliene interjected timidly.
“I stand corrected. They’re committing suicide, and I want you as far from them as possible when that happens.”
“But—” Liliene tried to intervene.
“Listen here, Lili. I liked you like another daughter. I’m glad to see you grown up and healthy, truly. But I am not going to stand idly by and let you put my little girl in danger.”
“I’m not a little girl anymore…”
“Because you’re not a mother yet, you can’t understand. You’ll be fifty, and you’ll still be my little girl.”
“Mom. I’m going with Lili,” Laura said, her head high. “If you don’t want me to, I’ll just find her in the capital in a few days anyway. And if you still don’t want me to see her, you can report us and have all of our blood on your hands.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Laura lowered her head. It sounded less cruel in her head. Yet, she was too stubborn to take them back.
The room fell silent. Even Liliene stopped munching, fearing that a single movement would detonate a powder keg. Laura’s mother narrowed her eyes, wondering in passing if someone had eaten her cute daughter and replaced her with a convincing copy. She squinted at Liliene.
“She didn’t charm you, did she? I heard vampires can do that.”
In turn, Liliene looked at Nex. “I can do that?”
Nex shrugged. That meant maybe, right? The more she heard about vampires’ powers, the more jealous she got. All she could do was use her blood as fancy clay. It sounded underwhelming in comparison.
“Ahhh.” Another sigh. “Tom never stood a chance, did he?”
Laura blushed harder and shook her head no. “We’re leaving today,” she announced, final.
“Alright. You’re really not a little girl anymore.” Elise turned toward Liliene and suddenly screamed. “You better protect her, you hear me?”
Liliene, startled, jumped to her feet and mimicked one of those salutes she’d read in books. “Y-Yes!”
And thus the preparations began. Laura packed her picture frame, clothes, books, various study materials, her own short sword, which she had barely touched in all her years; from the shop, they took three eye-changing necklaces, just in case, a fancy parasol, apparently considered an artifact because it was retractable, go figure, a few fireless torches, and finally an adjustable magnifying glass.
The bag on Laura’s shoulder was twice as big as the combined baggage of Liliene and Nex, making it four times as unnecessary as theirs. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
The rhythmic tap of a finger against the counter drew everyone’s attention.
“This isn’t my daughter’s dowry,” Elise said, gesturing at the now-raided shop. “You’re still paying for all that.”
“Nex, do we have money?” Liliene whispered.
“No.”
“Oi. I’m not letting you rob my shop.”
Nex rifled through her own bag and took out the artifacts she had gathered from the two shelters. “Could we trade?”
“Well, shit.” Elise examined each one carefully. “Now I owe you money.”
She pushed back a few, notably the one that could take pictures.
“Can’t buy those. People would ask where they came from, and I wouldn’t have any good answers.”
Elise disappeared under the counter for a moment and reappeared with a bag looking suspiciously heavy. It made pleasant, clinking noises when she let it drop on the counter.
“Take this. Trust me, I’m still robbing you.”
After a few hesitant steps toward Elise, Liliene faltered. She leaned forward as if to hug Elise, then pulled back; finally, she settled on a bright yet teary smile.
“Thank you, Ma’am.”
“Oh. Come here.” Elise pulled Liliene into a hug. “You better give me my daughter back in one piece.”
“Nope!” Liliene returned the hug eagerly. “I mean, I’m never giving her back!”
“You… Lili!” Laura stomped the ground uselessly. “Not in front of my mom…”
Elise broke the hug and stood in front of her daughter.
“Now. You be a proper wife, alright? You take care of her, feed her, wash her clothes—”
“Mom! That’s not funny.”
“Ah! You should see your face.”
Yet a small, traitorous part in Laura’s mind whispered to her that it didn’t even sound so bad. Liliene was literal royalty; taking care of her would be the proper thing to do.
“Now go before one of us starts crying. And I’m expecting letters.” She frowned and pointed at the two girls. “From both of you.”
Liliene nodded eagerly and took Laura’s hand, pulling the other girl outside.
“Mom. Love you!” Laura had barely had time to say it before disappearing outside.
“And you…” Elise's sudden seriousness stopped Nex. “If anything happens to either of them, I’ll find you.”
Nex only turned her head, looking at Elise sideways. “If anything happens to them, it means I’m dead.”
Laura had expected many things to happen today: going on a date, maybe, making plans for their departure, or simply catching up. What she hadn’t expected was to be on the road by late afternoon.
“So, where are we going?” Laura asked.
“Home. To see Mama.”
“How far is it? The artifact guild offers only four recruitment sessions a year. I wouldn’t want to miss the next one.”
“I’m not sure. It took us a bit more than a week to get here on foot. But don’t worry, Nex knows the way.”
Behind them, Nex had the rigid gait of a wooden soldier.
“Of course. Leave it to me.”