The old woman smiled and banged a ladle against an enormous cauldron. That cauldron had almost been 200 pebbles itself. Iron was so rare. It was worth it but so expensive.

The spell he’d carefully molded into it was free. None of them would ever need to make a fire beneath this cauldron.

Maybe he could sell the cauldron? And there had to be other things around camp that were valuable enough to sell.

Then they’d spend the next few months just restocking.

“Late lunch again?”

Lunch? He stared at her blankly for an instant, torn from his thoughts by her prompting. Oh. Yes.

“Good to see you, Emmeline. That’s not food.” He pointed to the bubbling liquid.

She laughed. “Water for the laundry. Got to keep the young’uns busy somehow. But, I can get you something if you’re hungry.”

“Not really.” He looked down at the letter again. His shoulders sagged in depression.

“Hmm. Let me see that.”

Before he could protest she’d snatched it from his hand. He didn’t take it back and watched her purse her lips as she slowly read it.

“Bastards!” She laughed.

“It’s not funny.”

“Ah, don't you see, Master Taiken?” She waved the vellum with a snort. “They’re luring you. As smooth as chum on the line.”

He stared blankly at her. “Luring me?”

“Someone, probably Lord Aridon, wants to discuss something with you.” She handed the letter back. “And they’re making sure you won’t try to escape.”

“What’s the point of that? I would’ve gone!”

“But, you don’t have to.” She shrugged. “And they weren’t taking any chances.”

He massaged his forehead. Annoyed. “I hate their games.”

“I don’t have time to play games. … You really are just like all other demon.”

He winced at the memory.

“What’re you going to do, sir?”

“What can I do? I’ll have to go talk to the slime.”

“Good! Now, wait here.”

He looked up and watched her cross over to the supply crates and bags, cheerfully sorting through a few and filling up a wooden platter with various odds and ends. Stale cornbread, jerky, and an old wrinkled apple that should’ve died before spring.

She brought it back to him and held it out.

“Eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I wasn’t asking. Don’t make me take a paddle to you like I would to my grandbabies.”

The mental image of this old woman, who was still far younger than he was, taking a paddle to his backside was enough to make him laugh. He took the platter and sat down on a crate.

“It’s good to see you smile, sir. Even if only a bit.”

He looked up but she’d already turned back to her task of boiling water. Then he looked back down at the unappetizing food, sinking his chin to his chest.

There was no smile anymore.

***

“So… how’s life in the Palace?”

Lita glared at the ground, refusing to look her brother in the eye.

“It’s fine.”

Silence. She clenched her fists and he shifted uncomfortably.

“Lita, I-”

“You chose him over me. It’s done. Whatever.”

“Lita-”

“So you’re steward now? No, you’ve been steward since I left, right? I guess that’s a good trade off.”

Sheldon sighed loudly and leaned forward to cover his face in his hands. “I was trying to help-”

“I don’t care!” Tears burned her eyes and her fists shook. She started to stand, looked over and saw that Taiken was gone, so she plopped back down again.

“I didn’t do it to trade you.”

She bit her lip. I know that. “You still chose to be a lapper instead of my brother.”

“I chose to be Taiken’s assistant so you’d have somewhere safe to be!”

“Safe? Who’s ever safe with the damned demons?!”

Sheldon threw up his hands and jumped to his feet. “You’re not the only one who’s been hurt! Voids, Lita! You’re just being a stubborn…”

“Stubborn what?” She got up, too, now glaring at him openly. “Go on. You called Kelly it enough, I know the word.”

He glared back at her and remained silent.

Tears filled her eyes and she turned away. I don’t want to fight anymore. She couldn’t say it. Refused to say it.

“I know you’re mad. And hurt.”

She heard a crunch of stone as Sheldon moved closer and she stiffened.

“Everything I did, I did for you. I came to the Circus for you. I stayed for you. I gave up on nearly everything for you. So I can be here when you needed me.”

He touched her shoulder and she winced.

Lita kept her head turned away, tears burning her eyes. As they fell against her will she bit her swollen lips. “Then why didn’t you come with me?”

“You know why. Even if you won’t admit it.”

She clenched her fists in her skirt, gritting her teeth hard. Stupid tears. I hate you! I hate that I can’t think of a reply.

Her brother gently tightened his grip on her shoulder and rotated her around, pulling her into his arms. It felt so good. Like the old times. She stiffened as she remembered the last time he’d held her like that.

Kelly had died somewhere behind her.

“I’m not asking you to come back. Or to forgive Taiken. I’m just letting you know that I’ve made sure you have a place to come if you need to.”

She cried into his shoulder.

A long while later the demon finally returned. Looking as grim as ever.

She could have matched him and openly glared as he approached.

With the sun getting so low, she had no hope of dropping the raid plans off to her contact and still being on time for dinner. Because of this stupid demon she had to carry that piece of parchment for at least a day longer.

She was sitting on her own boulder again. Both siblings were silent as they watched the demon leave the forming camp.

Tall and red-haired with blue eyes.

So strange to see blue eyes in a demon. Normally they were red and it made Lita’s skin crawl.

Unfortunately he was also good looking. Not broad but slim and muscular, his movements mostly agile. Which was a contrast to, and made up, for some random, endearing clumsiness. A crooked smile and eyes that could brighten up like sunshine.

She remembered the days when the sword dancing girls had privately giggled together. How lucky Mistress Kelly was! “At least he looks good! For being too white anyway.”

She felt queasy thinking about it. And not because she now thought it was disgusting. Quickly, she reminded herself that she was angry at him for taking so long.

“Did you have a good talk?”

Taiken looked between them. She kept her head down so he couldn’t see her reddened eyes. Unaware that he noticed Sheldon’s swollen eyes and forgetting he could smell both of them.

“It went fine. Do you have an answer for Lita to take back, Master Taiken?”

“Uh, right. I forgot to actually write it.”

She looked up and watched him open the missive and lay it out on a boulder.

There he pressed a finger in the middle of the page and the ink from the previous message began to bubble and move. Black ink pulled itself together then spread out again, left to right, as he rewrote the message.

When he was done he flicked the extra ink off the page and stood up.

He folded the vellum and handed it back to her.

“They might send you back,” he warned her heavily.

“Fine.”

She took the letter, glancing nervously at the sun. It was higher than she liked and she remembered the dinner.

“Thank you for your answer, Master Taiken.” She curtsied stiffly and took a step back.

The demon bowed respectfully in return. “Until next time, Miss Lita. I’m going back to my tent, Sheldon. Come get me for dinner and try not to have any more emergencies until then.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Bye, Sheldon.” She stared at the ground, shoulders stiff.

“Goodbye, Lita.”

She whipped around and almost ran to get away.

After getting back to the Palace, she hid the damning Randa plans under her sleeping mat. She’ll worry about how to get the thing to her contact later.

Right now, she just had to get through dinner. And helping Diana with her after dinner, get ready for bed stuff.

Without giving herself away. Wonderful.

When she got to the kitchens the other servants were doing what they seemed to do best.

Gossiping.

Tonight? Gima had won the bet.

Tired, and trying not to worry about what she had in her sleeping quarters, Lita kept her mind on the bickering. Lost and won bets created that sort of thing.

It helped that it was funny.

She hid a smile as she paused in the dining room doorway, hands on the cart handle.The room was crowded. And at the table where the Brethren sat extra chairs had been added to the other side and five humans sat there.

Then, with a deep breath, she weaved around the other servers and blocked out the general noise of the gathering.

Demons are so noisy when they eat together.

“- forest is getting too thin.”

“We’ve been planting as instructed.” It was a bald man that spoke, his tone respectful as he addressed Jersard, the tall demon sitting in the middle of the Brethren’s side of the table. “Last year we had a beetle infestation that took some time to remove.”

“Yes.” Harv drawled, throwing his booted feet up on the table and picking at his fangs. “I remember. I had to send three demon to help. Nasssty business.”

Diana Veran, sitting next to him at the very end of the table, scowled and pushed his feet off. “You’ll get dirt in my food,” she snarled at him, showing her fangs as well. “And you’re not a snake. Stop that!”

Lita leaned around Diana Veran’s other side to deliver to the demoness the first plate. Then began to work her way down the table.

“The trees haven’t recovered,” the bald man said with a respectful bow of his head again.

“Then we’ll just have to put a limit on wood use this year. And probably next.” Jersard glanced at Lita as she served his plate. She was careful not to meet his eyes. “I’ll need word to be spread that we’ll accept Contracts for warming goods.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to let the human population thin out due to natural causes.”

Lita winced, in the middle of serving the demon who spoke. He casually grabbed her wrist as soon as the plate was safely on the table and twisted it up. Forcing her to lean forward even more over his shoulder.

“That smell.” He took a deep breath through his nose, everyone’s attention turning to her.

Desperate not to look Lord Aridon in the face, Lita looked instead at the humans across the table. Then immediately dropped her eyes in surprise.

“Recognize someone here, girl?” Aridon said low, close to her ear, so only she’d hear it.

“Aridon.” Jersard grabbed Aridon’s wrist and forced him to let Lita go. She backed away quickly. “You’re being rude to our guests.”

Lip service only. No demon cared what a human thought.

Lita squeezed her hand open and shut a couple times, blessing the Contract that kept even that one from hurting her. She picked up the next plate to serve the last of the demon. Planking didn’t even look at her as she set it down in front of him.

As she moved the cart around the table she saw that Aridon was watching her. He smiled, knowing he’d been noticed and she dropped her eyes to the ground. Voids on him!

She served two of the human guests. From the conversation it was easy to guess they were leaders from major human cities or communities around the lake. She listened as best she could with her nerves on edge.

She didn’t expect anything useful to turn up with an obvious human audience.

But you never know.

“Now, Bosley. Tell us the situation with the fishing in Randa.”

Randa?

She tried not to react to that name as she remembered the document she’d stolen that morning.

Fortunately, there was another perfectly logical reason for the demons to connect her reactions to.