They didn’t return that night, at least as far as we knew. Baial and Aldvil organised watches in the night so that us five could rest. Given how much of an early we had and what happened since I could have kissed the men for suggesting. In general, the new militia agreed to take on the heavy lifting and just have us as a backup.
‘It’s our home,’ Aldvil said. ‘You five have done enough for now.’
“For now” being the key phrase. The militia would need some serious training, and while the two guys they had, knew something it was clear they wouldn't amount to much in the long run. Sav agreed to fill in until we found a suitable tutor. There was a potential candidate, a retired soldier living in Lin-Vyme, but it would need to be either Ren or Ireela who went to recruit him, and that required escort. Sav would need to stay due to the urgency of forming a coherent fighting group. Ren volunteered, saying that if she is to become her mother's heir at some point she should start building connections too. Lilyth said she would happily tag along due to there being a monastery dedicated to the old gods there, and that Ereshkigal told her to visit it at some point. Since the two of them would need a minder, I graciously agreed to go with them. This decision was by no means dictated by my girlish joy about the prospect of seeing that monastery myself. At least that's the official version. Don’t question it.
‘Are you sure, Lilyth?’ Sav asked.
‘I mean… I can sit here, get worried and do nothing or actually do something useful,’ Lilyth said. ‘Having something to take my mind off things and all.’
‘Just be warned,’ Baial said. ‘I have heard rumours about there being some disturbances in the local graveyard.’
‘Something we will likely need to look into,’ Lilyth said with a shrug. ‘I doubt this soldier will be willing to leave home while it is in potential danger.’
‘Probably, yes,’ Sav agreed. ‘Just be careful.’
‘Don’t worry. The lesson I got today on overconfidence is sticking for a while.’
‘What if it is the undead?’ pale-faced Ren asked.
‘Your point being?’ I retorted.
‘Believe me, sister,’ Lilyth agreed. ‘It’s not the undead that are the problem. It’s what animates them. At least usually. But I doubt we are going to see the fucking Sierra Squad there.’
‘The what?’ Baial asked.
We gave him the short version of our misadventures in Akh'ret's Mercy.
‘That explains… a lot about today,’ Aldvil said after a moment of stunned silence.
‘It’s been an interesting few days, what can I say,’ Lilyth shrugged.
After some more discussion, a decision was made that Aki would go instead of Ren. Our new friend would give us a letter to prove we did indeed represent the estate but didn't feel too well about the prospect of potentially facing the undead. She sounded really upset about getting cold feet about that.
‘Sister, at no point you should feel bad about not wanting to go monster hunting,’ Lilyth reassured her. ‘We grew blase on the subject because we were forced into it.’
‘Also don’t think we actually want to do that,’ Aki added. ‘That’s more of an “unpleasant chore”.’
‘Yeah,’ Lilyth laughed. ‘Do the dishes, take out the trash, slay a giant monster made of Rot, dust off the floor.’
‘The bigger question is: are you and Ren going to be okay, Sav?’ Aki asked grimly.
We ultimately decided we would be leaving three days hence. It was a compromise we reached after Savri theorising that they would likely be back either today or tomorrow because we would have too much time to dig in otherwise, and Lilyth's retort that:
‘Savri… stop thinking like a commando for a moment. Those are not even soldiers. They are bandits LARPing as an army. I seriously doubt they considered things like the eight-to-one ratio and “it’s hard to attack an entrenched enemy”.’
Savri facepalmed and grew red-faced from embarrassment.
‘And that's why I usually handled tactics and not strategy.’
We turned to Ren.
‘Any ideas?’ I asked. ‘You are the subject matter expert on “How to Kojiro”.’
‘He was always pretty… impulsive,’ Ren said with obvious discomfort. ‘So I guess he would attack sooner than later?’
That decided it then, and after finishing our discussions we said our goodbyes to Baial, Aldvil and Gerra. We spent the rest of the evening decompressing and then went to bed.
When I woke up early the next morning, Lilyth was nowhere to be seen. Rather than in the middle, like usual, she spent the night to the left of me, while Aki was to the right. Even though, it was nice to be between them for once, turning my head and seeing that there was an empty space where I expected the sleeping form of my jelly to be was very distressing.
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Her even staying in the same bed as us was difficult initially, no surprises there, so I just hoped that she decided to sleep on the floor or something. I looked around, and not finding her anywhere, grew seriously worried. Veenaya was also missing. While our lumizu had spent most of yesterday safely in the realm of Water, we summoned her back after the planning session, so her having gone somewhere was more perplexing than worrying. Where could she be?
That question was answered when I saw that the room door was slightly ajar.
Did Lilyth leave it open?
I exited into the corridor and saw that the library door was also open and that the magical lights were lit inside. As the house was still silent, I tip-toed across to the open portal and peeked in. I felt immense relief upon seeing Lilyth lying on the couch, book in hand and Veenaya curled up into the ball on my jellybean's stomach. My wife must have heard me, as she turned her head towards me and waved.
I sometimes hate those keen senses of hers.
I entered the library and Lilyth sat up to give me some room. Veenaya was not pleased about the sudden end to her nap, but she quickly relocated herself to my jellybean's lap.
‘Couldn’t sleep?’ I asked Lilyth as I sat next to her.
‘Managed to fall asleep a few times, but I always saw… them,’ she replied weakly. ‘Eventually, I decided I wouldn't risk waking you up with my struggling, so I just came here to read. Veenaya's been keeping me company.’
Lilyth scratched the ball of love behind its ear.
‘You should have woken me up,’ I said seriously. ‘I could have cast the [Sleep] spell on you. As I understand, you don’t dream while under its effects.’
‘Might take you up on that. Though, I don’t want to get addicted to it.’
‘Addicted?’
She told me about the things called “sleeping pills” on Terra and how difficult it would sometimes be for people to stop taking them.
I heard there are herbs like this on Dwynveia too. I didn't consider that magic could have the same side effects.
‘Maybe it doesn't. But would you be willing to risk it?’
‘I guess not. Still… once or twice won’t hurt.’
‘Probably not. Still, I am likely to have nightmares about this for the rest of my life.’
She shook her head.
‘I might as well get used to them.’
Lilyth looked absolutely miserable so I just wrapped my hands around her and held her. Eventually, she fell asleep with her head in my lap. I couldn't help but feel immense sadness at how uneasy and vulnerable she looked. I remembered the woman I met in the Tower of Trials. They looked like two different people now…
To see her reduced to such a sorry state… in what… eleven days? Yes. Today is her twelfth day here. Hopefully, it will be the start of a new happy chapter of her life. She suffered enough. We all did.
It was very clear that that time around the sleep wasn’t particularly restful either though she would slightly calm down whenever I put my hand on her shoulder. It didn't help for long, however, and just as I was drifting off again myself Lilyth woke up screaming.
‘It’s okay,’ I whispered to her. ‘It’s okay. I’m here. You are safe.
That restored some peace of mind to my poor jellybean, though she still looked tired and terrified.
Probably not today then.
We ended up sitting there cuddled with Veenaya next to Lilyth.
‘I guess she thinks I need her the most,’ my wife smiled and petted the lumizu which purred happily.
She's not wrong.
‘There you are!’ I heard Aki shout from the door. ‘When I woke up alone… I got really worried.’
Oops.
‘That’s on me, I think,’ Lilyth apologised. ‘I couldn't sleep so I came here to read. Caei found me here after she got worried and I guess we lost track of time.’
‘I don’t think either of us wanted to wake you,’ I added. ‘I didn't consider how it would look to you, my love.’
‘Oh…’ Aki was visibly saddened and turned towards Lilyth. ‘How are you feeling?
‘I’ve been better,’ my jellybean admitted. ‘Now all of my favourite people being here does improve my mood though.’
Aki smiled at that and joined us on the other side of Lilyth. Veenaya used that as a pretext to move on my jellybean's lap again. Lilyth scratched the little beastie under its chin. We soon joined her in petting the lumizu, which looked as if it was in heaven.
A few minutes later, Ren entered wearing a matching comfy-looking light green shirt and pants.
‘Is that a pyjama?’ Lilyth asked with a raised eyebrow.
We were all sleeping in our shirts and undergarments since we lacked proper night clothes.
‘Yes,’ Ren said with a smile. ‘If you want, I can get your measurements and try to arrange some for you. My treat.’
‘How can we say no to such a generous offer?’ Aki beamed.
‘We need more clothes in general,’ Lilyth observed. ‘So I think a shopping trip might be in the cards sooner rather than later.’
‘There is a tailor in Denyr to the south that I get all my stuff from,’ Ren said. ‘The ones in Ror-Bhyk tend not to have the best materials. Though I don't think a two-week trip is viable right now.’
‘Ror-Bhyk it is then,’ Lilyth said with a shrug. ‘I imagine it will be cheaper there too.’
‘That will have to wait too, I think. Remember, Ror-Bhyk is Kojiro’s turf.’
‘Fuck,’ I spat.
‘Tell you what,’ Rennie said. ‘When I send an order for your pyjamas I will also ask them to make some clothes for you. Really basic stuff like shirts, pants, underwear and whatnot. Just so you have some spares. Then once our issues are solved, we can go on a proper shopping trip. How about that?’
It sounded like a splendid idea, so we all readily agreed.
‘Awesome,’ Rennie beamed. ‘Now come. My mom made us some breakfast.