There we were, Esmelda and I, forced by circumstances beyond our control to spend the night in close physical proximity. Honestly, it wasn’t very comfortable. She smelled like a pine forest in the spring, which made me wonder if scented soaps did exist and she had just given me the unscented and unusually caustic variety, but that silver lining was somewhat overshadowed by the fact that I could barely breathe. If she hadn’t been a lillit, we never would have been able to fit into my sleep-coffin together. Even considering her diminutive size, it was a tight fit.

"Can it get to us?" Her voice sounded muffled because we were laying head to foot.

"Not sure," I said after a long pause, "It’s the first time I’ve seen one of those. I’m hoping either it won’t realize we’re in here or won’t be strong enough to punch its way through stone.”

“But you don’t know?”

“I do not. You know more about them than I do. Did you read about these kinds of monsters in the Shui?”

Esmelda shifted, and her boot pressed against my midsection. I rolled onto my back, careful not to cut myself as I did so, and rested the sword on my abdomen. It was the only tool I had in there with me, but I knew I could mine the stone blocks by hand, it just took longer.

“Some. But mostly from folk tales. We have stories about all the monsters that serve the Dark Lord.”

“So do you think it can punch through stone?” If it got through, at least I had something pointy to poke it with, but we wouldn’t exactly be in an advantageous position.

“They are stronger than bears. Resist arrows. The Dark Lord uses them to disrupt enemy formations, but I don’t think they could break through the wall of a keep. We’ve carried stories about monsters roaming the land at night throughout our history, but parents always tell their children they will be safe if they remain inside.”

That sounded like a good way to keep kids in line, but I wasn’t sure how much stock we could put in folk tales if the monsters those stories were about had been absent for generations.

“It’s inside,” Esmelda said. Her hearing really was better than mine, all I could hear clearly behind two feet of stone and logs was the two of us. But that changed a moment later. There was a thump, and the vibration shook the frame of my coffin.

“The other heroes,” I said. “Did they have this curse? Did monsters follow them everywhere?”

“Only the Dark Lord,” Esmelda said. “The heroes who rescued us were anathema to the forces of Bedlam.”

“That seems unfair.” The coffin shook again, and the troll bellowed like a bull. I guess hoping that it wouldn’t know where we went had been too much to ask for. The mobs probably had some kind of extra sense for where I was. Otherwise, why would they always gather around my shelter at night?

“The greatest blessing comes at the greatest cost.”

“Greatest blessing? You said that Umber guy could heal with a touch. And the woman could shoot lightning? Captain Murderface could shapeshift into a dragon or whatever. How is my powerset any better than theirs?”

“It may seem that way. But you share the power of the Dark Lord. You can heal yourself, cause crops to grow in hours. The Dark Lord is said to be able to build a fortress in a day, or level a mountain if it stands in his way. Whatever you are capable of, what we have seen is only the beginning.”

That would have been more comforting if we weren’t currently trapped in a box. We were both silent for a while, listening to the troll fighting to reach us. Dust fell from the logs over my head as the coffin absorbed blow after blow. It was hard to be sure, but it sounded like the stone was holding out. At least the blocks weren’t being separated. If the troll got through to the logs, we would have known right away. After long minutes of tension, it seemed to give up.

“It’s breaking things,” Esmelda said. The noise was distant, but I could make it out. Splintering wood, more hoots and grunts. The troll was taking out its frustration on the rest of my shelter.

I heard a moan as well, but there was no chance a zombie could get to us through the stone. It looked like we were going to be okay, even if my base was getting wrecked.

"I think we’re safe,” I said. “We’re just going to be uncomfortable for a while.”

"Oh, you’re uncomfortable?" Esmelda said with faux concern as she shifted slightly, digging her knee into my side.

“Hey,” I said, “you’re the one who rode out here with the sun setting.”

“I had to,” she said.

“What do you think we should say to the knights when they get here?”

“I think we should make it clear that you are a member of our community and should be treated as such.”

“How is that going to work?”

“Sir Otto doesn’t speak Lillant. I think we should pretend that you do. I will tell them that we didn’t know you because you grew up in Eerb, another lillit village.”

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“Do a lot of humans grow up in lillit villages?”

“Rarely, but it isn’t impossible. Eerb does more trade with Henterfell than we do, and some humans go back and forth. Something could have happened to your parents so you were adopted by a lillit family.”

“That seems like a lot of loose ends. What if they go to Eerb to check out your story?”

“We have no reason to shelter a man from Dargoth. Sir Otto should take me at my word.”

“Sir Otto? Is that their leader?”

“Yes, he is one of Lord Godwod’s most experienced men-at-arms. He serves as a tax collector as well, so my father knows him.”

“Still seems like a lot could go wrong, not that I have a better idea. But I do speak some Lillant now, by the way.”

“Oh? You’ve been reading the notes I gave you? I’m sorry if they were hard to understand.”

“Ma kienx diffiċli,” I said. It wasn’t difficult.

Esmelda gasped and shoved me with her boot. “That wasn’t terrible!”

“Thanks, uh, actually, I needed to talk to you about that. I can harvest words off of a page the same way I do other materials. So if you don’t mind me ruining your storybook, I can learn to speak Lillant very quickly.”

She was silent for a while. “I’ve never heard of something like that. I would rather you didn’t destroy my book, but if it means we will be better able to convince Lord Godwod you are not a threat, then I could accept it.”

“I’ll try to leave it as intact as I can.” Statistically speaking, the majority of all the individual words that were present in a given book would occur within a few pages.

“What else did you learn?”

“Pretty much everything that was in your notes. All those are gone by the way.”

We spent a few minutes going back and forth, with her asking me questions in Lillant and me answering as best I could. I was a long way from being fluent, but what I did know was fresh on my mind, and she was suitably impressed.

“What happened to the pages?” She asked. “Do they vanish, or turn to coins?”

“The ink turns to a coin,” I said. “I could probably harvest the page separately, I never bothered trying. Oh, and the text gets recorded on my screens, so I still have a copy.”

“Your screens?”

I tapped my elder sign, because why not, and pale blue light flooded the coffin. I couldn’t sit up, but I could see Esmelda twisting around the other end of the box to look at me.

“Oh, you mean the words of the goddess.”

“It might be her,” I said. “It’s mostly a record.”

“But she gave you your quest.”

“Kevin, yeah, but she didn’t explain what that meant. Like am I supposed to stop him from doing something, kill him, make friends? I don’t know, but that’s all I’ve got.”

“I can’t imagine anyone becoming friends with the Dark Lord.”

Anime would disagree, but I could see her point. “This mark on my hand, I don’t think it’s Kevin’s mark. I think it comes from Mizu. If Kevin uses it as his symbol, that’s only because he probably has one too.”

She frowned. It was odd looking at her upside down. “He is said to have been a hero once, though we have no records of that time.” There was a crash from outside the box, and we both froze, but it was just the troll continuing to wreck my things.

Esmelda turned over, facing the wall, and I could no longer see her face. “Will,” she said quietly, “there is another way to tie you to our village that Lord Godwod would have to respect.”

“What is it?” I was open to anything at this point.

“We could be married.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out, and she rushed to continue her explanation.

“It would be in name only, of course. A political necessity. They won’t be able to treat you as a foreigner if you are legally wed to the daughter of the mayor of Erihseht.”

“I…uh.” I’d been alone for a very long time. My last relationship had ended after my arrest, and I hadn’t met anyone that mattered to me since my release. Esmelda was adorable, independent, and capable. I could have done a lot worse, but this wasn’t exactly romance she was talking about. I would have been more than happy to take her to the movies, or whatever the local equivalent was for a first date, but we were skipping a lot of steps here. She wasn’t even saying that she wanted to be with me, just that it would be a convenient match. And it wasn’t really about who I was as a person, she wanted to protect me because I was someone chosen by the goddess she worshiped.

“You don’t have to agree,” she said, her voice small, “it was just a thought.”

“No,” I said quickly, “I’d be happy to, uh, well, I appreciate the gesture. I was surprised, that’s all. To be honest, you’re very attractive, and I haven’t really…never mind. I know that’s not what this is about. What about Boffin? Would he go along with this?”

Considering our last conversation, I had to assume the mayor would be very much not in favor of this turn of events.

“The Pastor will support us. He performs all the marriage ceremonies in Erihseht. My father will not be happy, but it isn’t his choice.”

“Do you mind if I ask how old you are?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Asking a woman’s age, always a good idea. It certainly seemed like she was well into adulthood, but she didn’t look it, and you never knew with these kinds of settings. “Just give me the ballpark. I know this is weird, and I’m not sure what the customs are here, but I would appreciate it if you humored me.”

“The ballpark? What does that mean?”

“Just a general idea.”

“How old are you, then?” Her tone had gotten sharper.

“I’m thirty-two.”

“Then you have seen fewer summers than I have. Is that a problem?”

“No, not at all.” Thank god. With how short she was, it was hard to tell, and incredibly cringy relationships were a staple of isekai stories, at least the japanese ones. She had said lillits were long-lived, so maybe she was still very young by their standards. Why wasn’t she married already? Not important.

“I’m sorry if I offended you,” I said. “I would be honored to have you as my wife, even if it is just a marriage of convenience.”

She relaxed. In the confined space, it was impossible not to be aware of her body next to mine.

“It’s settled then, we will tell Sir Otto that you are a citizen of Erihseht by marriage, and he will have no right to take you into custody without cause.” Though it had been her idea, she didn’t sound very happy about it.

A second later, there was a creaking, cracking chorus from above, and something hit the top of the coffin. A lot of somethings. It sounded like the entire roof of the shelter had collapsed.