Page 315

Erin and her companions adjourned into the tent after they had shared their tears and joy enough over their reunion.

The tent was as large as a small house, or even larger. Nevertheless, it was fancier than what a plebian could ever dream of having.

“Where’s Riki?” Erin asked. The boy was nowhere to be found in the tent.

“He has long taken his leave, Mistress,” Siv answered. “We are too much for him, apparently. His words.”

“Ah… I see.” Erin smiled wryly. “Understandable.”

The group gathered around a large table that seemed to have been placed in the middle of the room for the exact purpose of having a discussion. There were even refreshments prepared beforehand and also some confectioneries. Beverages of assorted colours. Cookies and cakes of various shapes and sizes. It was a sumptuous sight, far too sumptuous for the girls to be at ease.

Aedan and Amyra were the only ones who didn’t hesitate to accept the opulence provided. Aedan was used to such treatment while Amyra was simply the type that couldn’t care less of the consequences as long as she deemed it not too much was at risk.

“Oh, lord! This is amazing!” Amyra exclaimed. “Y’all should try these. I don’t believe opportunities like these are easy to come by.”

“What if it’s poisoned?” Nivia asked. “A slow-acting one and one that isn’t easily detected.”

“What do you think, Erin?” Aedan directed the question to Erin.

“It isn’t poisoned,” she said as she picked up a single piece of cookie. “They’re no fools. They’re veterans of war and battles. If they wish to poison us, it wouldn’t be so obvious and they sure as hell won’t do it for no good reason.”

“Can’t be too careful,” Nivia mumbled.

“I agree with Nivia,” said Lyra. “I don’t believe there’s poison but we can’t be too careful. They might even get back at us in other ways, such as admonishing us for eating their food without any recompensation.”

“That is a good possibility.” Siv nodded in agreement. “My time in Lord Hegan’s servitude had taught me and my brother of the wealthy’s tricks and schemes. Most of all, they love to instil guilt into a person and take advantage of it.”

“Guilt-tripping, that’s the name for it,” said Aedan. “It’s also a favourite trick of merchants. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“...I can’t deny that,” Siv answered reluctantly.

“Is this the standard or is this just special treatment?” Erin mused aloud as she feasted her gaze with all the luxuries within the tent.

“The latter, Mistress,” Siv answered.

“Have we done something to warrant such treatment?”

“You have made powerful friends, dearie,” said Lilian with an amused smile.

“I’m well aware but is that enough of a reason for them to give us this… near-perfect imitation of a palace room?”

“They want something from you, Erin,” Nivia chimed in. “I’m sure of that.”

“What is it they would want from me?”

Aedan chuckled as he served himself a slice of cake. “Oh, there’s only so much you can offer but the few things that you could offer are invaluable.”

“Such as?”

“Aside from your skills and strength, I say your endorsement, your acknowledgement, your friendship, and so on. You’re a Fox-kin. You have seven tails. You’re loved by the Spirits, more so than other Fae. Your favour would go a long way.”

“They don’t have my animosity but that doesn't mean they are getting my favour. Besides, I refuse to believe my favour is all they desire right now. This encampment is huge, almost as large as those in times of war. I won’t be surprised if they are actually preparing for one.”

“War? What war?” Aera blurted out. “The Yorun Kingdom is going to war?”

“The apostles,” Erin said. She then proceeded to recount her experience and her encounter with Irmin, the True Naga.

“Is that true?” Nivia was the first to react. “An influence on par with the Ruvans? That’s too tall of a tale. The zealots believe that? Are they fools? I never take them for a gullible bunch except for the words of their own Divine.”

“Gambling exists because of people like them,” said Amyra. “The chances of failure could be big but as long as the reward of the success is immense, people will take those chances. They won’t all go to war for it but some of them definitely would. The Aerysians, for one.”

Lyra tutted. “These damn zealots. It has gotten so terrible that the court has decided to set up an encampment for war. A war within the kingdom is worse than a war with other countries.”

“War is the last resort,” Aedan said. “Encampments such as these are more of a deterrent than actual war preparation. To dissuade and discourage the zealots. For the time being, we don’t need to worry about a war breaking out but we will need to worry about the Aerysians and this… Irmin person. He’s desperate, incredibly so.”

“Is there any chance of two faiths colluding for a cause?” Erin asked.

“Depends,” Aedan responded as he took a swig of a glass of pink juice.

“On what?”

“On how you define ‘colluding’. Faiths colluding with one another is not unprecedented but it’s less of a collusion with one another but more of a collusion against each other. On the surface, it would appear that they are working together but in truth, they are just looking for the right opportunity to plunge a knife into each other’s back.”

“There are even worse cases,” Amyra added.

“Example.”

“The absorption of a faith by a large one or a stronger one.”

“How does one faith absorb another?”

“By giving the promise of greater power. It’s no different than shifting allegiance towards a country. Unless they are zealots in the truest sense, most are easy to… persuade.”

“Will the Aerysians do that?”

“They already had,” Aedan answered. “Honestly, if they weren’t such an impulsive bunch, they would have already become a faith that rivalled the Ruvans. But alas, they are individuals of prompt action. Raw tangible power above all else, not counting loyalty.”

Silence loomed over the tent briefly. A dark air permeated the room.

“But we won’t need to worry about them for the time being,” Aedan said with a cheerful expression. “This is what this encampment is for. To deter impulsive people like the Aerysians. Even they are not foolish enough to challenge the kingdom directly. If they do, the Ruvans would get involved too and the Aerysians would be wiped off the face of this world.”

“That doesn’t feel very reassuring,” Lyra grumbled.

“It is as reassuring as one can get.”

Lilian clapped her hands loudly. “Now now, everyone. Let us not venture deeper into his gloomy subject, shall we? It will do us no good to worry about a possible outcome of an uncertain future that we have no way of controlling. Instead, let us focus on a much more interesting and merry topic. I’m interested to learn more about this… cat-like Kirin you mentioned, Erin. May we have a look or a glimpse?”

“I suppose it won’t hurt,” Erin said. She didn’t sense any spell or tools in the vicinity that was meant to spy on them. If there was, she wouldn’t have sat still all this while. Since the cube was floating, it did not tumble or roll around in her sleeve. Therefore, the Kirin was still sound asleep when she took out the cube in front of all the others.

“Oh my, it’s so adorable,” Lilian was the first to express her instant infatuation with the creature but all the other girls had the same sentiments as Lilian. They were all moved by the Kirin’s cutesy appearance.

“This creature is utterly endearing,” Siv remarked. “It looks completely harmless and it’s supposed to be a Dragon?”

“Half Dragon,” Erin corrected.

“This thing’s a Kirin?” Amyra was in disbelief, leaning as forward as she could from her seat. “Are you sure it ain’t just a kitten that had been magically mixed with the blood of a Dragon?”

“Unless Appraisal is lying or wrong, this kitten is, without a doubt, a Kirin.”

“Huh… I just don’t believe it. This thing is just… too cute and small. And how old is it?”

“It’s only a few months old,” Erin answered.

“Yeah, way too small for a Kirin.”

“Have you seen a Kirin before?”

“Have I?” Amyra laughed. “I fought one before, milady.”

“Ah, yes. I remember now,” Aedan spoke up. “It was less of a fight but more of a one-sided thrashing.”

“I was weak then, Your Grace,” Amyra grumbled.

“You were a fool to challenge it, Amyra.”

“It stole my game, Your Grace.”

“Game?” Lyra raised her brows, looking over to Amyra. “Kirins eat meat?”

“They do. Do you think they don’t?”

“The stories I heard about Kirins, they all depicted them to be plant-loving and peaceful creatures. Are those stories a bunch of lies?”

“Kirins aren’t picky with their food but they are peaceful creatures,” Aedan said. “So to say, they won’t attack people and eat them.”

“But will they eat a sapient’s flesh if they are offered?”

“Yes, they will.”

Suddenly, the deep infatuation everyone harboured towards the Kirin fell by half.

“It won’t bite the hand that feeds it, will it?” Erin asked.

“This Kirin is one-of-a-kind, Erin. Therefore, I wouldn’t know.”

Then, the Kirin began to stir.

“Is it waking up?” Aera muttered out loud.

All eyes turned to the cube where the Kirin started kicking and stretching. It let out a heavy yawn before spanning its eyes wide open. Greeted by the sight of a room full of people, the Kirin squealed and cowered into the corner.

“By the Spirits, how can something be so adorable?” Nivia sighed.

The Kirin darted its gaze around the room. It tried to get out of the cube but no matter how hard it rammed into the invisible wall, it couldn’t. It looked around again, searching for a way to escape. Then, its eyes landed on the face of the person holding the cube. The Kirin’s face contorted into a grimace. It snarled and hissed at Erin.

“I think it hates you,” Lyra said.

“Well, I am its captor. Of course, it will hate me. It would be odd if it doesn’t.”

“Are you going to keep it, Erin?” Aera asked.

“I plan to tame it. I never had a pet before and I always want to know what it is like to have a pet.”

“Having a pet can be a tasking ordeal but it can also be a relaxing endeavour. The joy is in seeing it grow and seeing it return the love.”

“Have you had a pet before, Lilian?”

“We have a farm back in our home forest, where we rear our mounts. It’s no different than keeping pets, except that this Kirin can’t exactly be ridden. But I reckon this adorable creature will be less of a hassle to take care of in comparison with horses and actual cats.”

Erin put the cube onto the table. “It must be hungry. What can we feed it with?”

“Baby animals usually take milk,” Siv answered. “But I don’t think it applies to Kirins.”

“Just give it anything,” Aedan said, snapping a small pinch off a cookie. He then dropped the small crumb into the cube.

The Kirin pulled back at first but as it caught the aromatic smell, it inched slowly towards the cookie crumb while being wary of all the gazes directed at it. Once it was close enough, it snatched the crumb into its mouth with its tongue. The Kirin’s face immediately melted in delight.

Perhaps the Kirin’s delight also melted away the girls’ reservation. After seeing the Kirin relishing in the cookies, Erin and the rest no longer hesitated in taking a cookie for themselves.

They ate, chatted, and enjoyed feeding the Kirin a crumb of cookie at a time with each of them taking a turn, save for Amyra, who was the only one uninterested in spoiling the Kirin. On a side note, the Kirin accepted food from everyone except Erin. It huffed and turned its face whenever it was Erin’s turn to feed it.

“What did you do?” Lyra asked in a whisper.

Erin sighed. “We fought and it lost. Clearly, it hadn’t forgiven me for its loss.”

Surprisingly enough, Amyra was the one the Kirin kept turning to as if it was expecting the Augur to feed it at some point. In the midst of the merry, Erin suddenly swiped the cube off the table and hid it underneath.

A few seconds after, a voice called out to them from outside the tent.

“Lady Erynthea, your presence has been requested by the General.”