It was late in the evening, and Serinell was in her room lazily looking through the thick books she had been ordered to read for the evening. Her room was opulent, with every soft surface made of silk or linen, the walls hung with expensive decorations and lit by the finest of beeswax candles. Her bed was easily worthy of any crown princess and it was here she had decided to crash with her books.

“Excuse me young mistress.” There was a knock on the door and Tiumri’s voice could be heard from outside.

“Come in…” Serinell answered and the doors slid open.

Tiumri always bore some signs of mistreatment from being an overworked demon slave. But to Serinell’s horror; this time she appeared in the doorway limping on her left leg, with large black bruises and deep cuts on her temple. Her cheeks were swollen and her lips cracked. Her servant’s clothes were torn in some places.

“Tiumri! Serinell sprang up and hurried over to support her friend.

“Young mistress… I bring a message from the good master. He reminds you that there will be a ball tomorrow.” She continued while Serinell helped her over to her own bed to lie down.

“What did father…”

“Ah, he wished for you to understand the importance of tomorrow… You see, he expects you on your best behaviour…”

Serinell quickly brought the bowl of water she had by her bedside for her usual morning wash, and began to wipe away the blood with a wet cloth.

“Why haven’t you… Healed yourself up yet?” Serinell asked.

“The master wished for you to see what your defiance will cause… And his treatment… Forced me to spend almost all my brandt to stay alive… I apologize young mistress; it appears I won’t be able to serve you for a few days…”

“Shut up! Call me Serinell! Please! Stop it!” She roared out in frustration.

“I apologize Serinell… I meant no offense.”

“Flee from here, please.” Tears of frustration began to appear on Serinell’s cheeks. She dipped the cloth, wrung it and placed it gently on the biggest bump on her friend’s forehead.

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“Even if I did, I would die, they would hunt me down. At least here, I live. I can be of service to you, and my horrible selfishness makes me feel happy that you will call me your friend.”

“But I cannot stand to see you suffer so much for me… There must be something I can do to free you…”

“There isn’t. But I am grateful for your kind thoughts… Perhaps after you marry, you could… Take me along as your possession… Though a share of wealth would certainly do you much better than my broken being… That was a horrible idea, I’m sorry.”

“Why, do you keep on doing that? Talking yourself down, like you do not matter… Like you are worthless or somehow a lesser person… You are special… If to no one else, at least to me!” Serinell declared out half-aloud.

“Young mistress… I truly am blessed to be in your care…” Small tears began forming in the corners of Tiumri’s eyes, and soon the droplets began running down her cheeks. The salty tears ran down her torn cheeks, causing her visible discomfort and pain. Serinell wiped the tears away with her hand and smiled.

“I promise to be on my best behaviour tomorrow.”

“Very well… I shall inform the mas…” She tried to stand up but her aching body had long since given up on the concept of movement. Full of resignation she sank deeper into the soft bed.

“You will stay here tonight; this bed is too wide for one anyway.”

“I couldn’t possibly do such a thing; it would cause you too much inconvenience… I snore very loudly… And toss around a lot!” Tiumri tried desperately to make herself out to be a terrible sleeping partner, but her words fell flat, and barely drew a shrug from Serinell.

Serinell awoke the next morning to a light prodding on her cheek. She opened her eyes to find Tiumri standing next to the bed. To her surprise, all the wounds from the previous evening were gone.

“Good morning young mistress, please do make yourself ready and we will be fitting the dress you’ll wear for the ball.”

“Morning. Tiumri? What happened? Well I am really happy to see you are back to normal, but how?”

While Serinell washed, Tiumri explained that her kind had a special ability to heal. It was not magic in the sense of a specific spell, but rather that demonkin could replenish their spirit faster by experiencing positive emotions in themselves. She also explained to her that this was part of the reason why demon slaves were roughly treated. To keep the slaves in line, their spirit would be supressed. By cutting off positive emotion, and frequently forcing demons to spend their spirit sustaining their lives, they could never effectively prepare even remotely dangerous spells.

“So you see… It was not my intention to reveal this to you, but thanks to your care and the inspiration I felt, I feel more alive than I have in a long time. The thought of the friendship you give me have saved me many times before.”

“You are my treasured friend… That will not change, no matter what.”

“Thank you… Now, if it would please you, we should fit your dress... I recall last time you complained about the length and the area around your waist and bust…”

“It is not necessary for you to repeat it!” She groaned with embarrassment.

“Not to worry, it is an easy matter to widen it just a little.”

“Stooop it…” Serinell pleaded.