"Kiara’s gone."

Rick hadn't thought he’d fallen asleep in the dingy little hole in the ground until he felt Eva’s hand shaking him awake. The last thing he’d remembered was the darkness, talking about some inane thing, stroking her hair, and then… this.

Under the dim red light of the magelight, her eyes glittered like gemstones with a glow of their own. The maiden was practically on top of him, straddling his hips as her hands lay on his chest.

“Run that by me again?” He rubbed his eyes, sitting up what little he could within the small dirt-hole they’d made into an impromptu ‘bunker’ to wait things out.

“Kiara left alongside a human and one of the Orcs.” She was whispering the words, barely low enough for him to catch them. “Everyone else’s accounted for.”

“Who else knows?”

“Just us and the guards.” She replied. “I thought it best to keep it a secret from the prisoner for the time being.”

What she meant was that she thought it was a decision he’d want to make rather than have an outcome dumped on his lap. Rick regarded the Vampire; was this some sort of protocol he wasn’t aware of? Or did she consider this something she didn’t have a say in? It was a weird dissonance; he was pretty sure she had a better grasp of how Embla might react than him.

Ruby eyes thinned, and Eva stopped pressing against his chest. “You’re not surprised.”

He wasn’t.

Rick had made a point to clarify to Kiara that he wasn’t about to slap down some restrictions on her. It was impossible to determine beforehand what might be necessary, and he’d gotten the very distinct impression that she’d go very far for that information. Getting her to accept that the Pinielf would die felt like a pretty large step forward already.

“She’s the sort that prefers to do important things on her own.” It was a sign there were things she didn’t trust them with, but he wouldn’t begrudge her for that. Rick would have rather jumped off a cliff before letting the Succubus participate in his experiments, at least not without several weeks' worth of training first. “She’s alive, that much I can sense.” He confirmed after a moment of focus. “Not in the direction of Dia and Monica.” The distance was too far to tell much more. He hoped that he’d be able to tell if she were in trouble.

“It would certainly explain the message she left.”

Eva pulled out a dirt-stained piece of parchment that contained exactly three words.

“Don’t follow, dangerous,” Rick read it aloud, glancing at Eva. “You waited to show me this so you could see how I reacted.”

The Vampire leaned closer, thumbs caressing his jawline, holding his cheeks in her palms. Her skin was cool to the touch. “Rick, you need to understand how dangerous Kiara is. A charmer like her, with her experience, could ruin everything.” Her hands fell onto his chest. “Dia and I do not trust her, and we cannot protect you if you keep things from us.”

Her concern washed out towards him, the bond surging with warm apprehension.

Rick pushed back against the emotion. “Like how I shouldn’t trust a Vampire?”

The words stung her, he knew, he felt it through the bond as she twitched; she lowered her gaze. “It’s-”

“It’s not different. How much does anyone know what you do? As far as anyone can tell, the evil Vampire lady could be spending her days locked inside the former Lord’s castle scheming to betray me and take over the city.” He poked her forehead. “Instead, what you do is read a bunch of smutty romance novels.”

Eva slapped his hand away. “I do not. Most of my time is spent in research and experimentation with spells. Learning to control my power so it’s compatible with the standardized weave patterns is…” She stopped, letting out a sigh and leaning away. Crossing her arms, she grumbled. “Fine. I get your point.” With a sigh, her shoulders sagged. “Please don’t tell me you expect me to trust her, or…” she gagged. “...like her.”

“That’s between you two. I expect a minimum of trust if only because we’re working together.”

He didn’t like putting it like that; it left a taste of mothballs in his mouth, but it would be absurd to ask for more. Or rather, he couldn’t imagine things going well if he pressured for amicable relationships between them. Not just because of Eva, but from Kiara as well. The Succubus had practically made a point to keep some distance between herself and the maidens Rick had grown close to. The only times he’d seen her “truly” in her element had been when surrounded by people she held control over. He’d seen the behavior before, troubled students in particular.

Maybe he should talk to Alice about it if the chance ever presented itself.

“The tribe will want answers,” Eva interrupted his thoughts. “Especially if either the Orc or human is found to be dead.”

“I know as much as you do right now, probably less,” he shrugged. “So answers will have to wait until Kiara gets back.”

He winced when Eva poked his chest with her sharp nail. “Then make an educated guess.”

“She left with an Orc, but not the human bonded to her. That feels sloppy, not something you’d do if you had the time to plan it out.”

“Yet it happened while both of us were asleep, the exact time when she was likely to get away undetected,” Eva countered. “I might not be useful for much, but I can at least raise an alarm, and my senses are better attuned to the forest than the Orc’s.”

Rick nodded along, but his thoughts were on Eli; the Hound had definitely been on guard at the time Kiara had left. But questioning would need to wait until things were cleared up. He could feel through the bond someone rapidly approaching, someone who was bubbling with excitement.

“Monica’s on her way here,” there was a bit of trepidation in those words. If Dia had succeeded, then it meant it would be Rick’s turn.

“This soon? Things must have gone well,” Eva muttered.

“Does… it usually take longer?”

She let out a snort. “You think someone like Dia would’ve sent Monica after receiving a single ‘no’ for an answer?”

Rick barked out a laugh. “True enough.” The healer was many things, and her stubborn determination was just about the most endearing aspect she had when it came to work. “Time to greet the catty messenger, then.”

Eva tightened her hands against his shirt. “Does… the plan remain? Are we to stay put for the time being?”

“I think so.”

“Ok,” she nodded. “Then I’ll keep an eye on Embla. I do not trust one of Kiara’s pets to be the sole overseer of our prisoner.”

They’d have to work on Kiara sharing details about plans later. He did not expect the conversation to go well, seeing how there would be much that she’d be able to pull up in regards to his own behavior.

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With Eva vanishing into mist, he crawled out of the hole. The guards had gathered into a tighter spread, making sure they could keep one another within direct line of sight. None of them looked pleased about the situation, but none of them spoke either. Every member had their weapons drawn and looked just about ready to pounce.

“Monica’s almost here,” Rick informed them. “Whatever the situation is, we’ll handle it once we have more answers. Right now, we stick to the plan.”

There were nods all around, but the tension didn’t diminish any, at least not until the first guard called out that they’d spotted Monica. The Sabertooth had shouted out as she got closer, stepping into view while holding a cloth bag of some sort. The maiden was grinning from ear to ear, hurrying towards him.

“Found chocola-”

The next instant, the ground she’d been standing on exploded in a rain of splinters and dirt. Rick hadn’t even grasped what had happened before he found himself face-first against the dirt. Eva had shoved him down, he dimly realized, ribs aching from the yank.

“ATTACK!” She screamed.

Right there, right next to his head, sticking out of the dirt, was a spear. A spear that was as long as he was tall, made of dark wood and laced with intertwining lines of softly pulsating purple light. The spot Monica had occupied had several similar spears, right in the area she’d been occupying.

But Monica was nowhere to be seen.

The Orcs had rushed to surround him, and he caught a glimpse of a flash of movement overhead. His eyes and ears couldn’t keep up with the chaos unraveling around him, so he did the only thing he could: he focused on his bonds.

Monica, Eva, and Eli were the only nearby maidens bonded to him. Monica was speeding overhead, bouncing between trees like some sort of hyper-focused murder-pinball. Eva was using the shadows in a vain attempt to at least get a glimpse of their attacker, while Eli was moving in to join the guards surrounding him.

He focused on Monica and the pinprick bursts of pain that were coming out of her right shoulder and left knee. Pulling at the agony, her focus only sharpened. Rick tried to make sense of what he was feeling, of the enemy they were facing. He couldn’t keep up with the insane speeds of the combat that was unfolding, but he hoped he could at least gain a broader insight.

Anything that could help. Maybe if he could just…

Monica blocked him off in a wave of anger.

A roar rang through the forest.

And then, silence.

Breathing hard, Rick shoved himself up to his feet. “Whatever that was, it’s over,” he declared, shoving his way out from the encircling Orcs and marching straight in Monica’s direction. Behind him, Eli made some noise of complaint before quickly moving to catch up and stay at his side.

The feline emerged from the thick foliage, eyes focused on him. “We leave. To nest.”

She was hurt; a spear embedded into her shoulder, and something sharp had scraped her knee. Yet there was barely any blood, which was a Monica thing. The maiden might not be able to regenerate, but injuries stopped bleeding pretty quickly.

He stepped closer, with Eli right beside him.

Monica’s blue gaze snapped to the Hound, a snarl fresh on her lips.

Eli immediately stepped back, raising both hands in a placating gesture.

“We’re not going back,” Rick ignored the exchange, reaching out to check the spear that had pierced her shoulder. “Do you need Dia for this?”

Monica snorted, reaching up with her uninjured arm and snapping the thing, yanking the whole thing out without even flinching. “Get Dia, then leave to nest,” she proclaimed firmly, glaring down at him. “Not safe. Silence is here.”

Eva emerged out of the nearby shadows, breathing hard and clearly winded as she approached. “Rick-”

He gestured for her to stop, not daring to look away from Monica. “What’s the silence?”

Monica’s jaw tightened; she snarled. “Death.” She cocked her head at Eva. “Look.”

The Vampire had brought something with her. A corpse, large and green, an Orc. The maiden was still, eyes wide and mouth open in horror. There were scratch marks on her neck, ones made by herself, and the reason was clear: wrapped around her neck tight enough to sink into the skin was a wire.

Whatever had killed the Orc had done so through asphyxiation.

“I found her body hidden on the upper branches,” Eva said. “A cleaning spell was used to remove any scents.”

“Death,” Monica repeated, snatching Rick’s arm with an iron grip. “Monica cannot protect Rick, not here.”

He dug his heels in. “You just did.”

“Because you weren’t the target.” It was Eva that spoke; she looked paler than a few minutes ago. “They were looking for either a cheap shot at Monica or to test us.” Her gaze turned to Monica. “How many of them were there?”

“One. Got away.” She growled, tightening her grip on Rick. “There are more. It is not safe here. We go back. Now.”

There would be nothing that could stop her from kidnapping him here and now. Rick had to think fast. “We go get Dia and talk to the knights. You stick to my side every moment of the way. If you think I won’t be safe over there, then we leave. But I need to speak to Captain Deneva first.”

Monica growled, snapped, her tail flicked in annoyance, ears flat against her head. “Fine.” She finally conceded, turning to look at Rick again. “We not travel alone.”

“Wait-”

“No waiting.” She stepped past him, turning to address the Orcs. “Everyone move. Protect Rick.”

“Monica, we cannot just go all there, Eva and Embla will-”

She snarled; this time the sound didn’t come as some half-hearted petulant noise but as a threat, every hair on his body stood on edge under the intense narrowed blue gaze. “Not care.”

Was this the bond pushing her to act? She was making an effort to keep her emotions locked away. He couldn’t be sure. “If Deneva finds out about them then things might-”

“Not. Care.” She bared her fangs at him, whole body tense, arms shaking. “Keep Rick safe.”

“Fuck, fine, just…” Combing his fingers through his hair.

Was the only answer to send her back and hope Embla would behave? He couldn’t just tell them to tag along and try to remain outside the knight’s patrol range either. Their attackers could find them and finish them off.

Eva stepped forward, lowering herself to a knee and bowing her head. “Take me as a prisoner, my Lord. Chain me and explain that I am your willing captive. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but at least I would remain near Embla.”

“What if Deneva demands your execution or some other crazy stunt?”

Her bow deepened. “I trust my Lord.”

Rick grit his teeth, molars screaming at the tension. He turned to look at Monica’s glare, and then at the others. He would be no more successful in convincing them to ignore Monica’s demands than he’d be at winning a fight on his own.

“Fuck.”

He yanked his arm out of Monica’s grasp; she’d relented just enough to let him.

“Fine, we head out.” He pointed at the Sabertooth. “But you’re keeping everyone safe, not just me.”

“No.” Straightening out, standing at her full nine feet of height, she turned to look at the others. Every maiden present nodded back, reaching out to their collars and removing them. “Just Rick.”

“I’m not more important than everyone else.”

“We will keep the other humans safe, Father.” One of the Orcs declared, raising her metal-plated shield and slapping it loudly. “But the Chieftess is right, and Spear also said as much. You are our priority; without the Father, the city might lose everything.”

“I hadn’t meant just the humans.” He answered through gritted teeth.

The green-skinned maidens shared looks, chuckling as if he’d made some humorous joke. Each of them gave him a shrug and a nod before moving to gather up everything for a hasty departure.

Right.

This was another maiden thing.

Monica reached out to him, pulling out a bag and placing it in his grasp. “Chocolate helps,” she declared, keeping her paw on his shoulder, her tone shifting to something softer, even conciliatory.

Rick recognized it for being the exact same tone he’d used to coax her out of a foul mood. Though he’d normally offer dried jerky since that was more easily available.

Inwardly admitting defeat, he peeked into the bag. Within there was a fist-sized block of black chocolate; it had a missing chunk, one that had been bitten off. Rick knew the peace offering was important to her but wasn’t exactly in the mood. Still, he made a show to break off a small chunk and eat it.

The chocolate was unsweetened and bitter, the texture coarse, almost like sand.

The stuff had all the signs of having been made by hand rather than have come from his world. And the ball was too large; there was no way one of the students had just brought this much high-concentration chocolate. He knew the Earl didn’t have chocolate, or he would’ve offered it way back during the visit. Had Barry and the wildlings figured something out? Something to consider later.

He took a second bite, and Monica’s grip relaxed a little, pulling him into a fuzzy hug he didn’t fight against. Even in this moment of tenderness, it was impossible to miss how tense she was.

“I know, I know,” he mumbled, caressing her furry arm.

Him being here was a liability, a selfish request in every way. If not because they needed to negotiate with the knights, then he might have proven to be dead weight entirely. The feeling gnawed at him like a prickling in his chest.

“Come on,” he muttered, urging Monica on once the tribe had finished preparations. “I’ve gotta convince Deneva to make life easier for us.”