By the time they returned to their room, they were exhausted. Ada took the time to tuck the redhead into her less than comfortable bed, then sat on the floor next to her; this room didn't come equipped with a chair. She glanced back at the demon standing near the door, uncertain what to say or do. She had made the mistake of taking her eyes off of him once, and it led to disaster. "Why?"

Arakash crossed his arms. "You really have the nerve to ask why a slave would want to escape?" He showed no sign of remorse, made no attempt to pretend he was apologetic. As long as her mind was locked onto his defiance, she might not consider his methods. Beyond that, he was angry; the plan seemed flawless, yet here he was in a worse position than he started. "Aren't you going to bed, Princess?"

Ada glared at her demonic... slave, she had to admit, he was a slave. She vowed to make her peace with that concept; she had to, if she wanted to prevent this from happening again. "After tonight? No. There's no way I'm going to give you another chance to escape."

"You could simply give me an order," Arakash said.

"I don't trust the spell that much." She never should have in the first place. "You've shown a penchant for resisting. Perhaps not for long, but probably enough to kill her." Ada gestured at her unconscious 'guest'. "Maybe you'll decide that if she wakes up, she might be a threat and trick the spell that way. I'm not going to give you the chance to try."

"Possibly." Arakash wasn't certain one way or another, but as exhausted as he was, he knew he couldn't make it happen tonight. "But sooner or later you will need to sleep, Princess. Your daddy didn't think of that."

Ada looked at the floor for a moment and fought off the urge to cry. Instead, she whispered. "He thought of it. I was meant to be well escorted during this trip, by individuals hand-picked to be resistant to your influence."

"Ah, yes, I remember." Arakash smiled, or snarled, one would be hard-pressed to determine which. "Death chases you like an unrequited lover, Princess."

Ada watched him- it. She had been lulled into imagining this creature was a person, just as her father had warned her not to. "By the time I need to sleep, she'll be awake and safe. I know you can't hurt me, asleep or otherwise. And we already know she can protect herself. Once we're in Karana, I'll have guards again. That will control you."

Arakash made certain his expression was neutral, but in his head he was seething at his failure to secure his freedom, thanks to having the bad luck of stumbling across the perfect bait and not realizing it was a trap. "You seem to have all the answers, don't you?"

Ada looked over at the girl in the bed. "When it comes to creatures like you, I don't have the luxury of anything less."

They remained silent for a few minutes, then Arakash spoke again. "Wake up princess, it's time we get going."

Ada jumped up, her eyes opening to realize there was light in the room unrelated to the glowing flames that were still being fought back. She'd fallen asleep and hadn't even realized it. At least her charge still seemed to be breathing.

"Relax, Princess, I didn't touch her." Even with a few hours to consider his position, he'd given up on playing the 'nice guy' role. It failed and almost got him incinerated, and then the girl he was trying to ply with empathy had sided with the one who tried to kill him. "Thought about touching her. Thought about touching you."

"You do know I can order you to kill yourself, right?" Ada stood, trying her best to ignore the aches of sleeping while sitting up on the floor, in her armor. She wondered how she felt that, yet didn't feel an arrow piercing her heart.

"No control spell is that powerful, Princess." He was confident she wasn't lying, but he'd accept being proven wrong if it provided more secrets to the nature of the binding spell.

"Not directly," she said, taking the bait. "But if I, say, had you drop your disguise and attack the local barracks, the results would be much the same, would they not?"

Arakash paused for a minute. It seemed unlikely the spell would allow that, if only because it would contradict the protection imperative. It might be enough to crack the control spell, too. Or perhaps it would force him to run a suicide attack on armed war mages. There was only one way to find out, and he wasn't quite that desperate yet.

Sensing she had the advantage, Ada pressed harder. "You didn't think of that, did you?"

"You didn't, either." Arakash snapped back. "I'd say it was your father, but I've witnessed his threats, and they're less juvenile in nature. So your brother's the most obvious source. Don't use all of his material up too quickly, Princess. Once you're out, you'll just be a silly little girl trying to control an entity centuries older and far more powerful than her."

"That's what eats you up, isn't it? That it's me in control?" She took a step forward, challenging him to tell her she was wrong through the truth-enforcement of the control spell. "I think if it were a great king like my father, or a powerful skilled warrior like my brother, it wouldn't bother you so much. You'd hate it, of course, but it wouldn't be so... insulting. Being controlled by 'a silly little girl' must be hell for an egotistical monster like you."

Arakash said nothing.

"I thought so," Ada said. "And I'm glad, even if it's nowhere near the justice you deserve. This conversation's over, let's get to the ship." She turned and picked up the third member of their trip.

"As you command, Princess."

Smoke still drifted thick in the air, made worse by the morning fog. Activity bustled about as guards and repair crews went about in force seeing to it that the damage was limited, and that those with money were protected enough to rebuild their livelihoods. Nobody cared about those who didn't, as was par for the course, but a few might find some coins helping in the repairs.

"Trouble incoming," Arakash muttered. "Trust me and follow my lead."

Ada wanted to make some comment, or at least ask what lead she was supposed to follow, when two guards approached them. "We're going to have to ask you to head back to your residences. It's not safe here."

Arakash knew better; they were keeping people isolated so they could go through them one by one to find him and the redhead. After last night, the pair of them were due for an executioner's block. He put on the air of an upper-class accent. "If you please, we lack a permanent residence the city. We booked transportation to Karana, seeking a proper cure for my lady-friend's ailing sister." He gestured at Ada and the girl she carried.

Ada caught on quick enough. "Please, good sir. We were separated from our companions in last night's chaos, including our doctor." It didn't take much to bring tears to her eyes, either. "She'll surely die without care."

The guards considered their position for a moment, nudged by Arakash's magic to desire, and with luck empathy, for the pair of women. They glanced at each other, seeing if the other would take initiative in this situation. The evidence seemed believable, the accents seemed genuine, and Karana was known for a healing techniques greater than anywhere else in the world. If they were liars, it could cost them their jobs. If they were genuine, then indirectly killing some lord's child would be worse.

Still, it Arakash could tell that it wouldn't be enough on its own, so he reached out his hands in the usual sign of supplication, with his palms up. In each palm sat a pair of gold coins. "Please, we have little recourse."

A week's pay for each of them to look the other way. That it led credence to their persona as nobility didn't hurt, either.

One of the reached out and took his hand, palming the coin. "Of course, Sir, we wouldn't want to inconvenience you. "If you head that way, you should be able to avoid the worst of the carnage."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

In other words: it was the best path to dodge other guards. "Thank you, I swear on my honor I won't forget this!" Arakash walked off, followed shortly after by Ada.

"What was that?"

"A bribe. In my experience, only lust motivates people moreso than greed does."

"But... they're guards." She looked back again. "They're supposed to be better than this."

Arakash continued walking, but reveled in the opportunity to put this stupid child back in your place. "Are you really this ignorant of your own nation? Your people tried to assassinate you twice in a single afternoon. Your father started a war with an unprovoked sneak attack that even two decades later hasn't been forgiven. You haven't been married off yet because you're political poison no other nation will touch. And all that is before enslaving demons. Does it surprise you to learn your soldiers are lacking discipline?"

It did, but Ada wouldn't admit it, so instead she walked in silence and considered all she was learning now that she was no longer shielded from the harsh nature of the world.

Arakash felt the ship before he spotted it; all ships had magical enforcements to hide them from sea monsters, but this one used a special design meant to hold something in rather than keep things out. He'd say they were playing with fire using such a method, but he had sworn off all flame-based idioms and puns after last night's debacle.

Two men holding swords blocked them on the dock. "Where do you think yer goin'?"

"Such a friendly greeting," Arakash said. "Your captain is expecting me."

"We were told, but he said nothin' of those two." He pointed his sword at Ada, but fortunately didn't move close to her. Arakash would have hated to have to murder the man in so public a venue.

"And yet, here they are." Arakash opened his arms, but as he did so the hidden Vilos prepared its bone, on the off chance it was needed. "If you have a problem with that, we can leave, and you can explain to your captain how you sent us away. I'm sure he's a fair man who truly appreciates your judgement and will have no problem with you costing him lots of money."

The sailors considered their situation for a moment, but sarcasm aside, they knew they had little choice. "Welcome aboard."

One began leading them to their room, while the other went off presumably to tell the captain. "Yer staying in a storage room. We were told there'd only be one man. The women will just have to deal with it."

It was something of a surprise to Arakash that they even had a room planned for him at all, considering the obvious nature of this trap. "I'm sure we can find some means to entertain ourselves."

Ada resisted the urge to chastise the demon. "We'll be fine. It's only for a couple days, right?"

"Hmmph, don't keep the rats up all night."

The moment after he left, Arakash went to open the door, which did not go unnoticed by Ada. "Where do you think you're going?"

"There is some business I must take care of," he said. "I might have left out a detail or two about our ferry."

Now Ada crossed her arms. "I know you think I'm naive, but I'm not so stupid that I didn't recognize what sort of ship this is."

"I didn't think it'd fool you for long." Arakash wasn't certain what the Princess thought she knew, but if she realized the real truth, it would end in a disaster that got them both killed. "If I don't have a conversation with the captain, we may find ourselves fighting our way off this ship. We both know what happens to me if you're harmed, so you know I'm not going to do anything stupid."

Ada doubted her definition of 'stupid' aligned with the demon's, but she also knew he couldn't lie to her. "Very well, you may go have your talk. Do not take any more time than you have to."

Arakash nodded. "As you command, Princess." He left the door, then cloaked himself in shadow while opening his senses. Later, they'd be watching the door more closely, but for now they had their hands full with setting sail and heading out. He felt the shudder of the ship as the magic changed and allowed the waves to take control of the boat's motion.

Arakash found the captain's quarters easily enough. For a moment he considered how tacky a gilded dagger was as a door ornament, but it was the captain's stolen gold to do with as he saw fit. He sat down in the captain's chair and considered pouring himself a glass of liquor, but he hated the smell of alcohol more than he loved the idea of annoying the man a little more. There was no longer a reason to keep up pretenses.

Fortunately, he didn't need to wait long before the man arrived. "What an unpleasant surprise." He, too, had little reason to keep up pretense.

"It doesn't have to be, if you listen." Arakash smiled. He then tried to offer the man a deal that involved caging the princess, such that she was safe and he was a 'free' enough to find a more permanent solution, but he failed to express any of the words. A pity, but he hadn't expected that gambit to work in the first place.

"Out with it lad, I ain't got all day."

"I know what you are," he said instead. "I know what this ship is. And I know you what you think I am."

"And what would I think you be, lad?"

"A valuable bounty, in your eyes. You must know I'd fight."

"Fight to yer heart's content, lad. You ain't got a chance."

Arakash didn't argue the point. "You're probably right. But I know all about your special guest, and I bet I can break its chains before I'm stopped. I've some talent in the arcane, you know."

The captain's good eye widened. "Do that and we all die. Yer no exception."

"If you're half as smart and a tenth as old as I suspect you are, you know all about my people, what we're capable of." He allowed his form to shift just enough to reveal his true eyes. "Let me assure you that every rumor about our spitefulness is well deserved. I'd do it, and hope I lived long enough to kill you before it kills us both." More bluff than truth, but the captain needn't know that. He was only forced to speak truth to the princess.

"And what would you be wantin', instead?"

Arakash took out the summoning stone and placed it on the table."Nothing but you keeping your bargain from before. We land in Vera, we leave, and you keep the stone. Not the windfall you were hoping for, I know, but it's hardly like making less money is the same as losing money, let alone your life."

"That be a problem, lad." The captain held still, though his eye couldn't help but focus on the stone. "But you'd already know that if you've realized what this ship is."

"I've also realized that you do a lot of business on the Karanan coast near Vera." He chose not to explain how, but it wasn't like it was hard to identify the supplies on the ship. "You know a way through. Smuggler's tunnels, I'd bet."

"Ah, well, ya got me there, lad." The captain acquiesced that this creature had outplayed him. "But it's not safe this time o' year."

"Surprisingly kind of you to warn me, but we'll take it anyway." Arakash stood, leaving the gem behind on the table. At this point, he had ensured the only safe play for the pirate slaver was to get him off the ship without violence. Or to sneak enforcers on board, which would lead to them discovering his secrets and executing the both. It was an unusual form of hostage negotiation.

"Yer funeral."

After Arakash left the captain with the information he needed, he took the time to sneak through some of the halls. A handful of coins here, a healing potion there, but the true prize was a wand that the princess could use as a proper weapon."

He was starting to feel confident about himself again, after the humiliating failures of yesterday. Until he opened the door to their cubby-hole.

"YOU!!!" A voice shouted, and then the room was engulfed in fire.