The demon wasn’t what Ratface would have expected from the stories. She wore a simple farmers dress; it’s focus more on how many pockets she could fit on it than any sense of style. It still looked good on her, but Ratface suspected that was because of her than any dress concerns. She had a tail wrapped around her waist like a belt. It ended in a point shaped like an arrowhead.

Her skin was red, and her veins burned beneath her skin. She reminded Ratface of the trees she’d seen and wondered if this demon was the template.

Her face was uncanny. It looked like an elf’s face, if the elf had been mixed with several different predators. Her teeth were sharp, and her eyes reminded Ratface of a wild cat’s.

The biggest difference was the top of her head. Ratface had thought she’d been wearing a crown but realised that those were horns growing out of her head. Situated in the middle of the horns like a gem in a crown was a burning eye that stared down at her.

She didn’t radiate perfection like an elf but that same sense of danger wafted from her. Ratface didn’t even bother reaching for her knife. If this woman wanted her dead, then she was dead.

The demon’s smile turned from Abigail to them and took on an amused tint.

“Your children seem concerned,” she said to Abigail. She held her hand out to them like a farmer closing a deal. “My name is Claudette, and yours?”

She kept holding her hand out expectantly and Ratface realised neither of the others were going to take it. Ratface shook her head, that wasn’t how you dealt with the powerful, the first step was to offer them no slights.

“Ratface,” she said. She took Claudette’s hand but was sure not to meet her eyes.

“Ah, you are from Lurian,” said Claudette.

“Yes, you are correct great host,” Ratface said. She made sure to keep her head down.

“You all call me that. Do you know how I can tell you’re from Lurian?”

“My accent perhaps, great host?”

“You do a good job of masking it. No, it is the way you approach me.” She sounded irritated. Out of the corner of Ratface’s eyes, she saw Abigail reach for the demon before the woman waved her off.

“If I have caused any disrespect, I apologise,” Ratface said. Her eyes looked down at the ground.

“Oh, you respect me, I can see that. You respect me like the rabbit respects the wolf.” She kneeled before Ratface and kept staring at her until Ratface was forced to make eye contact.

“I am no wild animal, no host. Treat me as a person, an equal. There shall be no consequence for small slights against me, I swear on my name.” Her voice was gentle. Ratface found no ire in Claudette’s eyes, if anything she looked hurt at Ratface’s assumption. Ratface looked from her to Abigail, who gave her the tiniest nod. The woman was safe.

“Claudette then,” she said. She met Claudette’s eyes properly.

The demon smiled then quickly stood up and clapped her hands. Ratface tried to hide her flinch.

“Now that’s sorted, how about you two young adventurers. Surely, you’re as brave as your companion?”

The other two gave their names and took Claudette’s hand. Claudette raised her eyebrows in amusement when she took Tiffany’s. The woman seemed amused by everything they did.

“A druid, is it? The walk here must have been an enlightening experience.”

“Your forest is unique, Claudette,” said Tiffany carefully.

“A polite way to say you hated it. Demons by nature do tend to be more forceful, even their plants.”

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That caught the younger girl’s attention.

“I wondered, but they are demon plants, aren’t they? How did you get them to grow here?”

“The forest floor is consecrated for them,” said Claudette. She was leading them all into her home and had taken Abigail’s hand.

“Honestly love, you should have told them what I was, I doubt the surprise did their hearts any good,” Claudette said to Abigail, gently admonishing her.

“It was hard enough to get them into your forest, did you think I could convince them the demon was safe?”

“Hmm. I suppose emergencies make for bad decisions,” said Claudette, admitting defeat.

Inside the mansion it was homey but tasteful. The furniture didn’t compromise on style but one look at the padded chairs told Ratface it didn’t skimp on comfort either.

Claudette led them through the mansion into a tearoom. A goblin sat there reading. She quickly put the book down when she saw them coming in and rushed out of the room. Ratface had only got a moment to look at her, but she had been red.

Claudette got them all sitting down and settled. A moment later the goblin came in with a tea set with little biscuits on a tray. She moved between them all and handed out a cup, leaving the biscuits in the table between them.

She was definitely red. She even had two horns growing from her forehead and around back behind her ears. It made it look like she was wearing a circlet or a fancy headband.

When she got to Ratface she paused before carefully handing her the cup, making sure she didn’t drop it.

“Servant? Red?” whispered Ratface in goblin.

The other girl shook her head.

“Apprentice. Long story,” she replied before coming to sit next to Ratface and picking up her book. Ratface couldn’t tell what it was about because it was in common, but the cover had adventurers fighting a dragon which surprised her. Imagine a goblin reading about adventurers, maybe the dragon ate them in the end?

“Perhaps it would be worth introducing yourself?” Claudette asked the girl. She put her book down, clearly irritated but trying not to show it and gave the room a little nod.

“Eliana,” she said to the others. She looked over to Ratface and added, “Suncat” in goblin. Ah, that explained the attitude. Clever but full of pride. A little lazy too. She was probably friendly to those close to her but didn’t bother with strangers. She snorted at Ratface’s knowing look. The rest of them introduced themselves to Suncat. Suncat nodded in understanding as Ratface gave her name.

“Nosy,” Suncat whispered to Ratface. Ratface laughed.

Claudette watched the interaction with a smile, but her eyes returned to Abigail.

“You’re still in your armour,” she accused.

“You’ve been a whirlwind. It got broken as well so I’ll need help.”

Only then did Ratface realise the woman was still moving slowly. She was careful with the cup, like holding it took more effort than it was.

“Excuse us,” said Claudette. She pulled Abigail up with more strength than her small frame would suggest and the two left the room.

They sat in silence for a second before Isabelle sighed.

“They’ll be a while. Getting that armour off when its broken is difficult and then they’ll start catching up and it’ll be a miracle if the two of them remember we’re here.”

She looked at the group of them. They were in rough shape and exhausted. They were lucky none of them had any serious injuries. Abigail seemed to have taken all of those for them. Albert had been kicked pretty hard, but he seemed okay just very bruised. Ratface imagined he had a bruise shaped like a foot where he’d been kicked.

“You all look like you could do with a nap and a bath,” said Isabelle, “shall we show you to your rooms for the night and meet back for dinner?”

She led them out before they had a chance to respond. She took them one way, but Suncat stopped Ratface from following them and held out her hand to lead her a different way. Ratface took the goblins hand with unease and followed her. She was shocked at her reaction. She’d never felt unsafe around a goblin. For whatever reason, Suncat didn’t give her that same sense of safety despite how kind she’d been. It was particularly odd to Ratface given how carefully the other girl held her hand, like she was scared she would break it. Suncat eventually brought her to a set of doors.

“Your room,” she offered. She pointed to the one next to it. “My room.” She looked away when Ratface looked at her and Ratface chuckled.

“Cat behaviour,” she accused the girl in goblin.

The other girl narrowed her eyes.

“Rats always squeak too much,” she said.

Ratface smiled. She could feel herself relaxing despite the unease. It was nice to speak to someone else in goblin. For them to understand her without having to explain.

Suncat gestured to a room further down the corridor.

“Bathroom. Go wash up, smelly rat. I’ll bring you clothes.”

She marched into her own room and Ratface went into hers.

It was a fancy room with a big fluffy bed. It had a closet and draws which seemed excessive to Ratface. There was a window looking out into the garden and it even had a mirror where she could look at her grimy self. The smelly rat comment may be truer than she realised.

She put her bag down and got Halmir out from his little nest. He opened his eyes and squeaked at her which she took as a good sign. He was getting heavy though. She gave him a sniff and wrinkled her nose. Turned out there was two rats that could do with a bath. Ratface took her helmet off, she’s had the visor up anyway, so it hadn’t hidden anything. She picked the heavy Halmir back up and carried him with her to the bath.

It had been a long day, but now she could finally relax.