<~> Chapter 88Once I finished eating I set my bowl aside and collected my thoughts while I waited for the irls to finish.

  Fae would have finished eating first at the rate she was going but she received a double portion since her meals had been rather light the st few days from the way she expi. The cook had beeical but Tarklin made sure it happehe way she ate didn't look particurly dylike but the thought actually just made me smile. It wasn't until she noticed I had been watg that her face flushed and she slowed down. She still finished before Bel though.

  I cleared my throat. "Now that you're doing I was hoping we could talk a bit more..."

  Her eyes briefly gazed at our adjoining wall and I quickly picked up on her issue. I cast [Zone of Silenbsp;around us and she turo me with an ied look.

  "You ot to be a you talk like one, have a charisma skill, and bsp;even use [Zone of Silence]."

  I raised an eyebrow. "And nobles are the only ones who use this spell?" I asked.

  "W-well of course not... Most people wouldn't have need for it."

  "The one I lear from entered girls' rooms at night," I said with a shrug. Absolutely not a lie, he had entered my room after all.

  "I... see..." She clearly didn't have a respoo that as evidenced by the blush on her face. Perhaps I shouldn't talk like that around a kid but she's remarkably wise for her age. I would be shocked if she wasn't aware of that kind of thing. It's not like I wao have that versation with her though, let someone else teach her about the birds and the bees.

  "Anyway... there was a reason you didn't want Silva to join us in this room. I decided to go along with it but I want to know why."

  She turned away for a moment, seemingly to think before she sighed and looked at the ground. "She... scares me."

  My eyes narrowed. "You have her in a sve colr..."

  She took a shaky breath. "When we were esg, when she roteg me... I watched her kill half a dozen people barehanded. ...The reason she was my father's sve in the first pce was because she murdered a noble..."

  Ah I think I see how these pieces fit together now.

  "You don't trust that she wouldn't kill you too, since she's killed a noble before and doesn't hesitate when fighting. ...You don't think she would protect you if it wasn't for the sve colr."

  She sat there for a moment in silence before tinuing. "I haven't truly known her for very long... She had been assigned as my personal guard for a few weeks now. I didn't uand why my father thought I needed a personal guard to follow me around the house..." Her voice was barely a whisper now, "I wonder if he knew."

  She looked away in thought for a brief pause but then tinued, "When we were first attacked I watched her kill two men before I knew what was happening. She killed them in moments. I had been so afraid, afraid... of her, that I ran. One of the people that were attag us, a human, found me before Silva caught up with me and stabbed me. She snapped his ne front of me only seds after. She threw me over her shoulder a going..." Her hand traced the part of her abdomen that had been pierced. "the knife was still inside of me when I got a kill notification... my party had killed someone."

  Taking a deep breath she tinued, "Despite being carried like that I got some credit for each of her kills a up five levels... I was so panicked I dumped every stat point I got into Vitality hoping to live through whatever was happening. Silva had apparently been takio the castle healer, she knew my wound was bad. Whe there the healer was already dead and some of the men were holding... my father."

  Her eyes closed and she took a shaky breath, on the verge of tears now. "I watched one of them decapitate my father and take the head..."

  Bel sat dowo the young girl and pulled her into a hug. Fae cried quietly for a couple minutes. Eventually she pulled away, rubbed the tears from her eyes, and readopted her strong demeanor.

  "I... know I shouldn't be afraid of her. ...She saved my life that night. She bandaged me in the back of an apothecary we broke into while the city was on fire... I found out days ter that her foot had already been broken by then but she kept walking on it anyway." The young girl curled up, ing her arms around her knees. "...but she scares me. Every time I look at her I remember the bnk stare on her face when she broke that man's neck. ...the look on my father's face when his head hit the ground..."

  Her voice quivered but she kept going. "When we were traveling to Traehall, I asked her why she was a crime sve. I was hoping it would be something that would put me at ease... something that would make me trust that she had only been wronged... Instead she told me she had murdered a noble. She... She felt justified in her as and told me that she was taking responsibility for it by serving me... But that's not good enough to assuage my fears. I- I have every reason to trust her but I just 't. I don't feel safe around her... That's why I chose to sleep near you tonight, I barely sleep with her watg me..."

  I frowhis was a lot more plicated than I thought it was. It wasn't that she was... a dao us. More that part of Fae's trauma had attached heavily to Silva. She became a strong reminder of her traumatic experience despite being the reason she survived.

  I scratched the base of my horn. "I don't mind watg over you while you sleep, at least when I'm not on night shift. That won't really solve your issue with her though," I said, half thinking out loud.

  "I- I was thinking about selling her off once we got to another city. I... don't think I handle being around her any lohan I have to."

  "Have you told her yet?"

  "...no. I'm afraid of how she'll react. It wasn't safe to tell her that."

  "Wouldn't she be forced to protect you anyway?"

  Fae looked up at me, she had a pained smile on her face. "For someone who owns two sves, you're pretty ignorant of its ws... The magic that enforces ands has trouble with nuance. 'Protect me' mean 'sacrifice your life trying to keep me safe' or it mean 'offer tokeand watch helplessly while someone kills me.' It has more to do with how the sve themselves interpret the order. You also have to be super precise while giving orders or your ht have loopholes that allow them to ignore or even wainst you."

  She shook her head and looked at the ground. "If I 't trust her to follow my orders in a way that be me I'll always be looking over my shoulder at her. That will only breed further mistrust ament." She sighed. "I'm at an impasse. Now that I've linked up with someone else to protect me while I find out what from my life be salvaged, I 't keep her anymore. I 't trust her even though I know I should..."

  There was silence while I mulled over her words in my head. I knew where I was leaning but I wasn't sure if this was right or if I was taking advantage of the situation. I could offer to buy her from the girl. Perhaps it would be a relief. I would o talk to my other party members about it ao know her a little better first though.

  I nodded. "Alright. I guess that's all I really o know. We'll keep an eye on her but if it'll help you rex, you sleep in the room with us for a while."

  The girl smiled. "Thank you. I'm sorry if this brought you any amount of distrust. ...my heart doesn't agree with my head right now."

  "Uandable," I reply. I dropped the [Zone of Silence]. "I'm going to quickly talk to the twins so that at least one of us will be able to stay in the room with you at all times."

  Fae hesitated but simply responded, "Thank you."

  I gently knocked on the door of the room the twins were sharing with Silva. I didn't have to wait long, it didn't seem as though they were asleep yet.

  Man opehe door for me. "Lilith, is something wrong?"

  "Man, one of the two of you switight watch with Bel tonight? I... think it's probably a good idea to keep an eye ohrough the night. She needs extra reassurances right now."

  Silva sighed loudly. "She's worried about me, isn't she?"

  I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say.

  She nodded. "It's alright. That girl has been through a lot. That night was... well... nearly everyohat girl knew is probably dead now. I had to kill several people around my level to escape and I let her get hurt almost immediately. I did the best I could to shield her from it all but she barely knows me and the single most memorable thing I probably did for her was kill a bunch of people." She shook her head. "Tell her that if she wants to get rid of me, I won't hold it against her."

  I paused. "If it helps... she said she knows she should be able to trust you. But her heart won't let her."

  Silva returned a pained smile. "It does."

  I turan. "Will you switch shifts with Bel tonight?"

  "Sure, I'll stay up with you now. Easier than trying to go back to sleep after."

  I turo Silva. "Sleep well Silva, I'm sorry things have turned out like this for you." I turo Torien and nodded. "Sleep easy Torien."

  "Goodnight Lilith," Torien replied with a smile. I hope she picked up on my intended meaning there.

  I quickly popped my head bato my room to tell Bel that Man was switg with her tonight. Fae, the young noble, was already sleeping soundly curled up o Bel. She quietly nodded in reply and I felt aowledgement flow through our bond.

  [Soultouched e has increased from level 3 to level 4]

  I felt the range increase giving me a stronger e to Bel, even at this short distance. I had been using the eore and more tely and expanding the ways I use it. It was among my most used abilities now and I was growing more fortable with it. It's a very intimate ability, sharing thoughts and feelings through it felt very personal. As a result, its use became more fortable the more fortable I became sharing that level of e with others.

  I gently closed the door and walked bato the hallway. Aloh Man for the first time in a while. She smiled aly took my hand, fortable knowing most of the camp was asleep. It was still a bit early for our shift but we made our way over to the wall that people had set up the night watch at.

  Man squeezed my hand, happy for the quiet moment we had alone as we made our way to the lookout. We sadly let go as we made our the ramparts.

  Saine

  Hello! We get some nice character development this chapter! chapter we get some more as well as an iing topic of discussion among our characters, stay tuned! I hope you enjoy reading, see you ime!

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