Later that night, the fire crackled as Lusya stirred the sizzling contents of the pot hanging over it. Ariya sat behind her, humming a tune. Last Lusya had checked, Ariya was working on her book, and the crinkling and scratching of pen against paper suggested she still was. Beldo and Aboki, meanwhile, were in front of Lusya. Beldo was seated near the fire, looking pensive as he watched the flickering flames. Aboki, on the other hand, sat at the edge of the fire’s light, pointedly avoiding looking at any of the others, his gaze instead turned out into the darkness.

As Lusya continued cooking, and the scents of the frying meat and vegetables filled the air, Beldo rose and hurried to her side to whisper into her ear.

“Hey, can you make enough for him too?” He jerked his head in Aboki’s direction, though it was no mystery whom he was referring to. “Please?”

“I anticipated you would make such a request,” Lusya said. “I have already ensured there will be enough to serve four.” She glanced at Beldo. “You will compensate me for his portion.”

He nodded with a broad smile. “Of course. Thanks.”

Lusya merely nodded in acceptance of his thanks.

“Need any help with anything?” he asked.

“I appreciate the offer, but no. You may sit back down.”

“If you say so.”

It was a rather simple dish. There wasn’t much room for more than one cook. She could have perhaps had him stow the ingredients she was done with back in her pack, but, although there was nothing particularly sensitive in there, she did not relish giving him access to her personal belongings.

As she had instructed, he returned to his spot and sat, while she continued working on the meal. As it was nearing completion, Lusya took a taste and added a pinch of salt. That ought to be enough for Ariya. Her tastes were the primary concern, though Lusya also felt, personally, that the dish had needed the extra flavor.

A couple minutes later, it was done, and she divided the contents roughly evenly into four bowls. She brought one to Ariya, who ineffectually covered her in-progress writing with one hand while accepting the bowl with the other. Though Lusya respected her wishes and refrained from doing so, it would have been trivial to read the page Ariya was working on. Lusya returned to the fire to grab her own bowl. Beldo came to claim his, and she handed him one, which he took with a smile. Aboki remained in place, still staring into the night in silence. If he was aware of the waiting meal, he gave no sign of it.

“Hey, dinner’s ready,” Beldo called to him.

Aboki looked to him, brow furrowed in confusion. “For me too?”

“Of course,” Beldo said. “I mean, you don’t have to eat if you don’t want to, but—”

“Yes, he does,” Lusya said. She turned her attention to Aboki. “I cooked you a portion. You will eat it.”

His eyes widened, and he nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He stood, took the last bowl, and sat down closer to the fire, beside Beldo. He examined the bowl, then took a spoonful of food and squinted at it from every possible angle. “So, this is food, huh? It was prettier in my head.”

“It always is,” Beldo said. He popped a spoonful into his mouth and swallowed. “But go ahead and eat. It’s good.”

Aboki obeyed, and all was quiet for a moment, while everyone sat around the fire eating, the only sounds the crackling flames and the low sounds of their chewing. Under normal circumstances, it would be Ariya or Beldo, but, tonight, Aboki was the first to break the silence.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“This is good and all,” he said, “not that I have a lot to compare it to. But why are we all eating. Isn’t the kid the only one who needs to?”

Ariya huffed. “My name is Ariya.”

“I know.”

“You will address her by name if that is what she wants,” Lusya said.

“And it is,” Ariya added.

Aboki recoiled as if struck and held up his hands in surrender. “All right, all right, I will. Sorry.”

“You are forgiven,” Lusya said, causing him to relax and return to eating. “And as to your original question, I also need to eat.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

She nodded. “I am a half-demon. I have mortal needs most demons do not."

“Oh. I guess that explains it.” He frowned and looked to Beldo. “I’m still not sure why the two of us are joining in, though.”

Beldo shrugged. “Why not? You said it tasted good, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” Aboki replied.

“Then it’s a harmless way to enjoy ourselves. Might as well take advantage of it, right?”

“I guess.”

“Anyway, have you given any thought as to what you want to do once we part ways?”

Aboki opened his mouth to answer.

“Other than kill people.”

Aboki sighed. “Then, no, not really.”

“Come on,” Beldo said. “There has to be something else you want to do in life.”

“Does there?”

“Not necessarily,” Lusya said. “But most high-rank demons have at least some other desires.”

Aboki hummed in thought for a moment before falling silent and taking another bite of his meal.

“You don’t have to know what it is right now,” Beldo said. “Some demons do know what they want the moment they’re born, but plenty figure it out as they go like mortals do. There’s nothing wrong with trying a few things and seeing what sticks. But if you’ve got any ideas at all, it would help you know where to start.”

Aboki was quiet for another moment before speaking again at last. “Art sounds nice. Maybe sculpting. But painting doesn’t sound half-bad either.”

“That’s as good a place to start as any,” Beldo said. “There’s plenty of ways to learn, different mediums for you to try, and, if you don’t like it, you can move on to something else.”

Aboki grunted. “I’m not saying this is going to replace killing for me or anything.”

“For most high-rank demons, their other desires do not,” Lusya said. “And I do not share Beldo’s desire for you to refrain from violence. However, if you wish to pursue art, it may benefit you to do so.”

“Yeah,” Ariya said. “No one’s gonna wanna teach you if you’re mean.”

Beldo chuckled. “That wasn’t how I would have put it, but that is the essence of it. That, and you’ll probably want models, plus you’ll want to stay in one place for a while to collect references and work on pieces. All much easier if you don’t run around killing people.”

“All right, I get it,” Aboki said. “I’ll think about it. But I’m not making any promises. Right now, it’s pretty clear to me which I should choose if I have to.”

“Good,” Lusya said. “Do not make promises you cannot keep.”

“That is good, but not really the important thing here,” Beldo said.

“It is to me.”

He sighed and turned his attention back to Aboki. “It is your choice in the end. All any of us can do is give you advice. If you’ll think about it, I’ll count that as a win for now.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Aboki replied. He looked to Lusya. “It sounds like you know a lot of demons. Did you fight in the war or something?”

She nodded. “I did.”

“She’s the Demon King’s daughter, in fact,” Beldo said. “She grew up around all kinds of demons.”

Aboki’s eyes widened. “Really? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…”

“I do not understand why you are apologizing,” Lusya said. “I did nothing to indicate my parentage to you.” She looked at Beldo, tilting her head slightly. “Nor did I intend to.”

“Hey, what does it hurt?” Beldo asked.

Lusya blinked. “Nothing, I suppose. I still would have appreciated you asking me first.”

“Fair enough. Sorry about that.”

“You are forgiven.”

“Anyway,” Beldo said, returning his attention to Aboki, “that’s her story, and I’m over two thousand years old. Between us, we know what we’re talking about.”

Aboki nodded. “Sounds that way.” He looked down into his bowl and grimaced. “Look, I get you’re trying to help, but, if we’re gonna talk, can we talk about something else now?” He looked to Lusya. “If that’s okay with you.”

“I have no objections,” Lusya said, though she was not sure why he was asking her permission specifically.

“Neither do I,” Beldo said.

“Ooh!” Ariya exclaimed. She bounced up and down where she sat, eyes sparkling with excitement. “I thought of a really funny joke! Wanna hear it?”

Lusya’s eyes widened, though Ariya was probably the only other one who could tell. “I do.”

“I’d love to,” Beldo said.

Aboki shrugged. “Might as well. Shoot.”

She doubted she would find the joke “really funny.” She did not have a strong sense of humor, and Ariya’s jokes were hit-or-miss, with even most of the hits being mildly amusing at best. Still, Lusya wanted to encourage her. It would aid the mission, however little. And Lusya enjoyed seeing Ariya as happy as she looked with her proud smile as she began telling her joke.

“Okay, so a bunny and a fox meet up at this big tree…”