The next morning, by the time everyone was up and about and doing their morning chores, Rain was still curled up in a bedsheet like a cocoon.

“Lazy Rain!” Fidget grumbled from the kitchen as she cracked fresh eggs into a sizzling hot pan on the hearth; “Not leaving her any breakfast if she can’t get up and work.”

“Leave her be,” Arvel said as he sat the mismatched plates out on the table.

“But she’s being lazy!” Fidget retorted, her thick brow furrowed.

Lunette chuckled softly as she followed behind Arvel, laying forks down beside each of the plates, and said, “Everyone is owed a bit of laziness when they need it. Rest is important, and I don’t think my lady got much sleep last night.

Arvel glanced at Lunette, and caught her knowing smirk.

“Yeah,” Arvel said, “She’ll be up and about when she’s got the rest she needs. She’s got her own chores to do at Elediah’s Trail and she can get to ‘em when she’s good and ready. Just means she’ll be walkin’ there by herself.”

“I’m sure she’ll manage,” Lunette added, before taking her seat, “I’ll be taking my leave directly after breakfast. I’m training with the militia until noon.”

“Trading!” Fidget announced, “Trading eggs!”

“Make sure you get us a jar of that pickled cabbage Nan makes,” Arvel said, sitting down across from Lunette.

Lunette rested her elbow on the edge of the table, and her chin on the back of her hand lightly as she watched Arvel and asked, “And what will you be up to, today?”

Arvel looked at her, then toward the fire crackling away in the hearth, saying, “I gotta visit Melodia today. Layin’ down some ground rules.”

“I’m curious what sort of rules you have beyond ‘don’t enchant the local populace’ or ‘no murdering humans’,” Lunette said.

Arvel looked down at the pile of scrambled eggs that Fidget plopped onto his plate, and said, “I got a feelin’ it’s gonna get a hair more complicated than that.”

After breakfast was finished and put away, Arvel, Lunette, and Fidget departed for Elediah’s Trail. Fidget had paused her attempts to break Tim in as a steed, but instead was using him as a pack-goat, hauling her bags on straps across his back while she lead him by his leather halter. Tim was less than thrilled with the arrangement, and frequently stopped to chew on dry grass and complain loudly, but Fidget felt she was making progress. Once they arrived at the settlement, they each went their separate ways.

Melodia was sitting under the cloth awning with the other ladies, laughing and chatting as they worked on their various sewing projects. She had slipped so easily into their day-to-day lives that none of them questioned when she arrived, and already they were sharing all of the local gossip with her. She smiled and giggled and whispered with them, and charmed her way into their hearts without needing to use an ounce of magic beyond her glamor.

But in between their chatter, she glimpsed Arvel across the road, leaning on the corner of a house. His arms were folded and he was making no secret of the fact that he was watching her. Melodia was startled to see him, but quickly put her pleasant smile back on and politely excused herself from the sewing circle. Tucking her materials into her basket and looping it on her arm, she started back for her house, and Arvel followed shortly behind.

When Melodia went inside, she left the door open behind her. It shut a moment later, and she didn’t even bother turning to see him before she asked, “What can I do for you today, Arvel?”

“You seem like you’re settlin’ in quick,” he said, helping himself to a seat at her table.

“Easily enough,” she replied, setting her sewing basket on the corner of the table before sitting across from him. She laced her fingers together, resting her elbows on the table and her chin on the backs of her hands, giving him a small smile as she said, “But you’re not here to see how well I’m getting along.”

“You bein’ here comes with some complications,” Arvel said.

“With your lady friends?” she asked.

He shook his head and said, “Nah, we’re workin’ through that just fine. But I want to know what exactly you did with all that power of yours.”

Melodia’s smile faded, and she said quietly, “Once you left, I drained my reserves further in order to heal myself. That sword of your father’s did quite a number on me.”

Arvel glanced down at the sword that had seldom left his hip since Rain brought it to him, before looking at Melodia again, and said, “I know you had a whole lot more stocked up than that. Everything you put into Lunette, you pulled back out of her, and then there were all the crystals. I imagine that cave’s gonna make a real fine home for whichever one of your sisters decides to stroll into the area in a few months.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Aha,” she said with a smirk, “There it is! The thought that’s been eating away at you. You’re afraid that I left a power vacuum one of my sisters will try to fill.”

“I know you did,” Arvel said, “You told me you killed all your sisters. But that’s just the ones in Nathulan, yeah? The ones in neighborin’ provinces are gonna notice you gettin’ quiet and will move in on your territory.”

“I left them nothing to take,” Melodia said, “I believe you would call it ‘scorched earth tactics’. There’s nothing left in that cave of any use to anyone.”

Arvel’s eyes narrowed, and he said, “It didn’t vanish. I’m asking where it all went.”

Melodia let out a soft exhale, and allowed her glamor to fade. In a matter of moments, she had transformed once more from a pretty dark-haired girl to a white-haired demoness. Her modest green dress had fallen away, instead replaced by sheer dark silks that hugged her every curve, decorated with metalwork and touches of black feathers. Her fingertips rose to brush along her collarbone, and a long black fingernail gently tapped the choker around her neck. Set in the center of the choker was a single teardrop shaped stone. It looked almost like a pearl, white but glistening with a faint lavender hue.

“Tucked away for a rainy day,” she said.

“Of course you wouldn’t bring that up in front of Rain,” Arvel said, “Because she’d be callin’ fer yer head, if she knew you still had enough power to level this settlement.”

“I’m sure it wouldn’t help if I told her I could kill every man and woman here in a single night without this little bauble,” Melodia replied with a smirk.

Arvel’s eyes narrowed in a sharp glare.

Melodia sighed and asked, “Too soon?”

“Ain’t never gonna be not too soon,” Arvel replied.

Melodia stared off into the distance as she tried to make sense of the double negative.

“Here’s what yer gonna do,” Arvel said, unfolding his arms to rest a fist on the table, as though punctuating the firmness of his words, “You said you wanna try this whole ‘living’ thing, like a normal human. Well y’ain’t a normal human. ...and neither am I. And folk like us got responsibilities to use the power we got to protect people what ain’t.”

“I’m listening,” Melodia replied, watching him with suspicion.

“So yeah, power vacuum and all that,” Arvel said, “Whether you hide out down here actin’ all normal and human, or if I’d killed you up there in that cave, we’d still be in the same position. One of your sisters is gonna get a wild hair eventually and decide to come claim your territory. Probably a whole handful of em comin’ from different sides if I had to take a guess. So in exchange for you gettin’ t’live here, you’re responsible for helpin’ defend these folk from whatever threats may come.”

“And what exactly do I get out of it?” she asked, folding her arms, “If I keep my word and I use my power to defend the village, then the locals will know I’m a demoness and turn on me. Thus, I lose my chance at a peaceful little human life.”

“We’ll work it out,” Arvel said, “But you don’t get a peaceful lil’ human life if all the peaceful lil’ humans get eaten either.”

Melodia quirked an eyebrow and replied, “Touché.”

“Glad we came to an understandin’ on that,” Arvel said, his shoulders relaxing.

“But what are you going to do to protect these people?” Melodia asked.

“Same thing I been doin’,” Arvel replied, “Seems to have worked out so far.”

“That’s not how any of this works,” Melodia said, “I gained my power by killing my sisters, taking their territory, and feeding on humans within it. When more of my sisters converge on Nathulan, they’ll start killing each other, taking their territory, and picking off little human settlements at the borders of the region. Or they’ll even start feeding on those in each other’s territory, laying waste to the settlements that were being carefully cultivated the way you might farm cattle.”

Arvel glared at her as she spoke so nonchalantly about humans being harvested, but he bit his tongue to let her finish.

“What I’m saying is, whoever comes for my throne is going to be more powerful than even I was,” she explained, “Your little shiny sword and propensity for getting back up again isn’t going to be enough.”

“Well what the hells else am I supposed to do?” Arvel asked, “I’m workin’ with farmers turned millitiamen here. I can’t exactly raise an army to fight off demons like my pa.”

“It’s not about an army,” she replied, “It’s about you. If you’re going to stand a chance, you’re going to need more than just his sword.”

Arvel folded his arms, listening, brow furrowed. But Melodia did not continue right away. After a moment, Melodia leaned a little closer.

“You do know about more than just the sword, don’t you?” she asked.

“What’s that even supposed to mean?” he asked, “I barely know about the sword besides the fact he had one. I was as shocked as anybody when it started glowin’.”

Melodia’s jaw fell slack in shock.

“Are you serious?” she asked, “You don’t know about your father’s sword? His armor, or his shield? You know nothing about the artifacts of the Immortal Knight? Nothing at all?”

Arvel set his jaw and muttered, “If you start laughin’, I swear...”

“Why would I laugh?!” Melodia asked, standing and leaning her hands on the table, “That’s positively horrific! You’re telling me that some of the most powerful magical artifacts in the world have simply ‘gotten lost’? That you have no idea what your birthright even entails?”

“It wasn’t exactly somethin’ we discussed over the breakfast table!” Arvel shouted back at her, “And what’s it to you besides? Why are you so upset I didn’t come at you with a whole suit o’ shinin’ armor?”

“It’s more that you have no idea where it is, or even that it existed!” Melodia said, “What if it fell into the wrong hands? What if there were a goblin running around in a suit of magical armor that your family just... just misplaced?!”

Arvel paused for a moment, looking at the table, then up at Melodia and said, “Well that’d be a pretty goofy looking goblin.”

Melodia slammed both hands on the table and shouted, “Arvel, focus!”