Chapter 54: Unwanted Rivals and Esteemed Retainers.

Ash found us, still on the ground. I heard her footsteps first. She looked exactly as she had before we had even stepped into this room. There was no Essence Weight attached to her now. She stopped beside me and looked down at the scene. Her hand reached out towards me, before she pressed it to her side. Then, she sat down in the sand beside me, close enough that her knee pressed against my arm.

“Who is this?” Ash asked, pointing at Alisa. She was not even breathing hard.

“A nuisance,” I said. The word came out softer than I had intended.

Ash looked at me, then at the girl. Alisa had risen onto one elbow. She studied Ash, and for the first time, her chin was not raised. “I am Alisa,” the girl said. “You are the woman who filled the Arbiter until it shone.”

“My name is Ash,” she said simply.

Alisa extended a hand, pointing right at Ash. “Well? Are you her rival too? If you are, that would make you my rival in turn!”

“What?” Ash stared at the girl as if she’d grown a second head. She looked to me, perhaps for assistance. All I could offer her was a faint shrug. “No, I am not her rival.” Ash said. “I am her…her-“

“My esteemed retainer.” I finished for her, helpfully. Ash looked at me, and I held her gaze. The light really did make her eyes look very blue. I was the one who broke gaze first.

“Good!” Alisa declared. “That means I’m your only rival then. It makes things simpler. Just one half-demon to vanquish. After all, one such as I-“

Ash reached over, lightly brushed at my side. Where I had fallen first, the dust clung to the tunic. “You lasted a very long time,” she murmured. “I saw you fall. Almost made me want to….” She trailed off. I could guess where her words had been heading.

“I am a Queen. I may stumble, but I do not fall.” My voice had gone low, until I almost couldn’t hear it over the sound of whatever tirade Alisa was on. “But perhaps I would not mind some small assistance, every now and then.”

Ash’s face flushed. She rose, extended a hand. “Is now one of those times then, Lys?”

I looked at her hand. My breathing had lightened. The infernal weight was well off me. If I attempted the rise again, I would make it. There was no reason to take Ash’s hand. None at all. A Queen would not-

I took her hand. It was callused, and yet still soft. Ash pulled me to my feet, gently. Perhaps Heroes were good for more than just being pack mules.

“You know, you might come to regret this tomorrow.” Ash said.

“Hmm?”

She gestured at my legs. “Well…exerting yourself like this right away has a way of coming back to haunt you. You won’t feel much of it today but….”

I did not know what she was speaking of. “I will be fine.” I said. Ash gave me a shrug, but said nothing more.

The girl was still talking. I did not think she had ever stopped. “-never have I had a worthy peer. Not that someone calling herself Lysanthia would ever be a true peer, but perhaps she will be a good vessel to test myself aga-“

Alisa paused, looked up at us. Her face flushed. She coughed, and then hurriedly rose to her feet, far more unsteadily than I had.

It was then that Edda appeared at the edge of the track. Her stride was quick. She stopped a few paces from us and glanced between the three of us. Her gaze lingered on Alisa with obvious confusion. “Inker Martial says we need to clear the chamber,” Edda said. Her eyes drifted back to Alisa. “All of us. He was very insistent. We’re the last ones-.”

“You.” Alisa’s voice cut through before Edda had finished. The blonde girl had risen herself with visible effort, and was now regarding Edda. “You are the demonblood girl who had a reasonable performance in front of the Arbiter. The one with the unusual mark.” She stepped closer, tilting her head. “Your potential seems to be rather substantial. Your name was Edda, correct?”

Edda nodded slowly. She had taken the faintest of steps back. I did not think it was from fear. Confusion, perhaps? Alisa pointed a finger at Edda. It was the same gesture she had pointed at me, and at Ash, and I was beginning to suspect the girl simply pointed at everything. “Very well, Edda. Join me. You clearly have potential. I do not know what that shifting mark of yours might be exactly, but surely it can only mean-“

Edda shook her head. Her hands came up in a gesture that was almost frantic.”I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t do that.”

Alisa’s chin rose half an inch. The girl’s pride did not take kindly to refusal. That was something we had in common. “And why not?”

Edda frowned. Her gaze moved from Alisa to me. Something crossed her face. It was brief. “I don’t know yet,” The girl said quietly.

I looked at the blue-haired girl. She was still looking at me. The strange look was gone now, replaced by that same measured flatness. But I had seen it. I recognized it now. I had seen looks like it before, on faces that were now dust. Back when they hadn’t yet sworn themselves, but had certainly seemed to consider it. It was a gaze I could not meet, and certainly couldn’t understand. And so, I looked away.

“A fascinating non-answer,” Alisa said. She looked at me and her expression was far sharper. “I see now. It seems my rival has already begun establishing her kingdom. Does she seek to revive the name Lysanthia all on her own?”

Ash was giggling. I could hear her beside me, and the sound was entirely unhelpful. Something in my skull throbbed. I pressed two fingers to my temple. I could already feel the start of my second headache since waking up in this world. “I am not building a-“

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ALREADY!” The Inker’s voice shook the sand beneath our feet. I felt it in my teeth. “IF YOU WANNA SLEEP HERE I CAN ARRANGE THAT!”

I looked around. I couldn’t even see the man, but it didn’t seem to matter. We left very quickly after that..

The corridors were a mercy after the heat. Edda walked ahead of us, the small wooden device in her hand, its faintly glowing letters rearranging themselves as she walked. Ash was at my side. Close enough that our arms nearly touched, which was closer than was strictly necessary for two people walking a hallway wide enough for six abreast.

“Is she still following us?” I asked. I kept my voice low.

“Sure is,” Ash said, without turning.

I looked back. Thirty paces behind us, walking at precisely our pace, was Alisa. Her chin was raised. Her gaze was fixed on some indeterminate point a few paces behind us. Did she think this some manner of subterfuge? Did she think her intent was not obvious? Given what I had been forced to learn about her, perhaps she did.

“So I hear you have a ‘rival’ now,” Ash said. Her voice was very light, and very amused.

I sighed. “The girl is not my-“