The breakfast turned out to be slices of bread smeared with butter and covered with various toppings like cheese, vegetables and meat.

‘I’d never thought I would ever see a sandwich here,’ Lilyth said with genuine awe in her voice.

Sand witch?

I knew there was probably more to this, but Aki’s brain didn't fully engage yet.

‘Wait… what do witches have to do with this?’ she asked, horrified. ‘Is the meat…’

That caused both Lilyth and Savri to burst out laughing.

‘Mystery meat is people!’ Lilyth said, barely managing to hołd onto her seat. ‘PEOPLE!’

‘Oh my gods, Akster,’ Savri guffawed. ‘You should see your face.’

Ren and Ireela were just staring at us, confused.

‘It’s just meat from terilla, sweetie,’ the latter said. ‘Don’t worry.’

I vaguely remembered terillas being large furry rodents, and as I discovered that morning - bloody delicious.

‘Could you two clowns explain the witch business then?’ Aki, now red-faced, snapped.

‘Sorry, my love,’ Lilyth said after she finally caught her breath. ‘Witches have nothing to do with it. It’s named after a ruling noble of a place called Sandwich on Earth.’

‘Oh…’ Aki muttered, anger giving place to embarrassment. ‘Ohh….’

This sudden change caused all of us to start laughing and after a moment Aki joined in too. A deep sense of belonging filled me then and in that moment, all felt right in the world. Judging by her expression, Rennie felt that way too.

The rest of the breakfast passed in a merry atmosphere of banter, story-swapping and general fooling around. Even Lilyth, despite everything, looked to be in high spirits. Ireela, even though she looked like she felt really out of place there, would occasionally join in as well. I could swear I also heard her whispering to Ren that she was happy that her daughter had finally found true friends.

Unfortunately, as life usually goes, all good things have to come to an end. Just as we were drinking our post-breakfast tea, there was a knock on the door. Ireela went to check what it was about because she was the only one fully dressed. It was one of the villagers who agreed to guard the mansion at night. Ireela getting new permanent staff was on our “things to arrange” list, but far down it, so a few of the locals agreed to fill in the most pressing roles. I think the man outside was called Gazal… Gezal… or something. He was a pretty little thing, just shy of his twenty-first birthday, green-eyed and red-haired. He was trying to grow a beard but failing miserably at it, which only added to his charm.

‘Ah, Jazzel,’ Ireela said, seeing him and walking outside, closing the door behind her.

That's what it was.

We carried on our banter in slightly hushed tones until Ireela came back a few moments later.

‘There is some food set aside for you and the rest in the downstairs kitchen,’ she said. ‘Help yourself.’

‘Thank you, Lady Ireela,’ Jazzel replied and went to eat.

‘Baial and Aldvil are waiting for us in the downstairs salon,’ Ren’s mom explained. ‘The night was quiet but we must plan our next steps, so go get dressed. There is work to do.’

She didn't sound pleased by that, but that was life.

There was a surprise waiting for us in our room, or rather waiting for Lilyth. There was a large box emblazoned with the rabbit sigil next to our bed.

‘Interesting,’ my wife said and went to open it.

Inside we found a layered grey leather jacket, a black fur-lined cloak and pauldrons and bracers that matched the armour. There was a note attached to the armour:

For a job well done with Ren. May they serve you well.

-E

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‘My old gear!’ Lilyth hooted, rapt in joy. ‘I thought I would never see it again!’

To my and Aki’s slight confusion, she, after dressing, also began putting her armour on.

‘Those are my vestments of office,’ my jellybean explained after seeing our quizzical looks. ‘As we are meeting the local officials it feels… right to wear them.’

‘You look great in those too,’ Aki happily chimed in. ‘A dark knight… knightess?’

‘A dark knight for the Dark Lady,’ Lilyth winked at her. ‘We have our dark witch with us too.’

Me? A witch? I think not!

I threw a pillow at her.

‘A dark sorceress,’ I corrected her.

My jelly gave me a low bow and said, with a shit-eating grin said:

‘I apologise for this grievous insult, my lady. It shan't happen again.’

‘I certainly hope so,’ I replied, barely keeping a straight face.

We came down to the salon a few minutes later. The rest was already waiting for us. The

Needless to say, Lilyth's appearance raised more than a few eyebrows.

‘Where did that come from? ‘Ren asked.

‘I’ll tell you later in private,’ Lilyth replied.

‘Are you knight, Lady Lilyth?’ Baial queried.

‘Yes, Elder Baial. I am a paladin in service of She Who Welcomes All.’

The two men grew pale and began to tremble.

‘Y-you s-serve t-the D-dread Q-q-q-ueen?’ The village elder squeaked out.

‘You have the right of it and fear not. My lady is a gentle goddess and my presence here is a mere coincidence.’

‘It did coincide with the village being attacked, L- Ser Lilyth,’ Baial retorted.

‘If there were any background machinations they were not done by my Lady.’

The Madness, however…

‘I can’t believe Kojiro would mess with the servant of the Dread Queen,’ Aldvil said, still clearly shaken.

‘I am a woman like any other. My status offers me no extra protection than any other knighthood would. I merely appeared in uniform as this is official business and it feels proper to have my allegiances known and I expect no special treatment on account of them.’

It also means that if Baial and Aldvil want our help they will need to do so in a way that won’t go against the interests of the Old Gods. We are still a part of the Great Game, aren’t we?

‘Regrettably, all mortals are, my child,’ Akh'ret said. ‘Be it as playing pieces or souls to gather. Which of those is better is arguable, but you still are on the losing end either way.’

That's discouraging.

‘Which is why we keep a lot of that hidden from you mortals. Ignorance is bliss as they say it on Terra.’

My link with Akh'ret went dead and I turned my attention back to the conversation.

Lilyth

Baial and Aldvil confirmed that nothing unusual happened that night. Then, we moved on to planning the day’s events. Savri agreed to go over the potential militia recruits with the village elder. While the final decision would be on the permanent trainer, assuming we could get them, she could still turn away any obvious bad fits. Aldvil then suggested we go see the place where Ren and Caei saw the boat leave.

Good point. That place needs to be watched. Who would have thought the old innkeeper would actually have good tactical ideas? Hang on…

Would it make sense for him to suggest that? It was weird…

Don’t be paranoid, Lilyth. Aldvil never did anything suspicious, you slept for maybe fours total since Caei woke you up yesterday and got raped like fifty times total in that time. Not every man is a threat. Not every man is a threat.

But how would Xyrus know I was leaving out back?

Windows. Crack in the door.

And who let Kojiro know Ren and Caei were coming?

Plenty of people were aware of the battle. Someone could have run and tipped him off.

Aldvil never did anything suspicious. Not every man is a threat. Not every man is a threat.

‘Why don't I tag along with you guys?’ I said in as pleasant a voice as possible.

Just in case. Not gonna let Ren and Caei alone with him. Not every man is a threat. But that doesn't mean he isn't.

Caeileera

Lilyth's offer to go with me and Ren was a bit of a surprise. I thought she would rather stay in the house, that would have been the smart thing to do, but I guess what she said about not wanting to sit around and wait still applied.

Aldvil also seemed happy about the suggestion.

Why, though? Is this about just having an extra sword with us, or Lilyth being a servant of Ereshkigal? Wasn't he concerned about her just yesterday? Maybe he thinks it’s a sign she is now better, but…

Aki decided to stay with Sav. I would have preferred it if she didn't go deathly pale and began breathing faster at the mere suggestion of her going with us, but it was good to see she had more sense than Lilyth.

Then again the bar for that is very low.

I knew that was unfair of me, not to mention hypocritical, since I would likely try to act like nothing had happened too, I know Leera did, but can you really blame me for worrying about this stupid jelly of mine?