Suspicions and Stares (2)

After confirming the retreat of both armies, two weeks passed through the humans' march back to the capital. At first, the soldiers remained wary of Anaroth. But after seeing their Captain interacting with him so casually, they began to feel embarrassed for their behavior. Anaroth himself kept his distance from the soldiers, merely listening to their conversations that were loud enough to him that he couldn't ignore them if he tried. As time passed, tension among the soldiers dwindled.

Veridin and Anaroth rode side by side ahead of the soldiers. Anaroth clutched the black parasol he received from Yulis before they set off. The sun cast a dark shadow on Anaroth's face.

"I've never asked, but why do you use that parasol whenever the sun is out?"

"Because I burn easily. And before you say something, I don't because it would consume too much magic."

"I wasn't going to ask that."

"Everyone asks that."

"I'm not everyone, am I?"

Anaroth glanced at him before looking ahead again. "You're rather talkative today."

"What else do I have to do?"

"Focus on keeping your guard up."

"There's no reason to do that. Only an idiot would approach us." Veridin turned his head as Galwund ran up beside the two. His eyebrows raised slightly as he looked down.

"Erm… Captain?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, rather… I was just curious." He looked at Anaroth with wide eyes, sweet and pure like honey

Veridin followed his eyes and chuckled silently. He was being quite disrespectful, but Veridin found it amusing. An owner should allow their pets to have some curiosity. Veridin smiled as he spoke.

"You're speaking to a king."

"Ah! Erm," Galwund placed his hand over his heart while smiling nervously, "Galwund greets your majesty."

Anaroth sighed softly and nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Is there something you wish to ask me?"

"Do all demons look like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are they all as pretty as you?"

Galwund stared at Anaroth earnestly while Veridin choked back a laugh. Galwund had joined the army when he reached the age of 15; He had never had a formal education, thus he had always used the word pretty to describe anything awe-inspiring. Neither Veridin nor Anaroth knew this as Anaroth's shoulders fell.

"Pretty isn't a word many people use to describe me. Most demons are what you might call pretty. They usually have pale skin, but otherwise look the same as you."

"So they don't have white hair like you?"

"No. I'm a rare case."

"I see!" Galwund's eyes sparkled with curiosity, so much so that Anaroth began to feel guilty for being annoyed. "And what about magic? The Captain can't use magic freely, so can you?"

Veridin turned away as Anaroth glared at him with furrowed eyebrows. "I can use magic whenever I please."

"Can you show me?"

He hesitated, then sighed as he looked into Galwund's wide eyes. "I suppose something simple won't be an issue."

Anaroth lifted his parasol above his head before letting it go. The parasol rose higher and twirled around in the air. It flew in circles as if it had a mind of its own. Anaroth held his hand out for the parasol to return, but it flew farther out before landing on the path ahead of them instead. Anaroth frowned and looked over to see Veridin with a satisfied look on his face.

"Can't use magic freely my ass." Anaroth muttered under his breath as he looked forward.

"That was… That was–!"

"Impressive?"

"Yes!" Galwund beamed. "Can all demons use magic like that?"

"Not just that. All kinds of magical beasts can use magic as well."

As Galwund's eyes lit up in awe, a shout rose from behind them. Galwund excused himself and quickly fell back into line. A few moments later, a lieutenant began to shout out a march.

"We've been off to war, lost a few or more! Oh, Delilah!"

The soldiers rose up in merry unison. "We're on our way home! Wait for me my dear, oh dear Delilah!"

"I've sent a fair few letters, you should ought to know! Oh, Delilah!"

"We're on our way home! Wait for me my dear, oh dear Delilah!"

Anaroth tilted his head while listening to them sing, "They're rather cheerful."

"Of course they are. They get to go back to their families." Glistening violet eyes studied the shimmering silver beside them.

"What about you?" Anaroth turned his head to see Veridin's eyes shift down. "Forget I said anything. We aren't close enough to have such an exchange."

"How else could one become closer? I don't have any blood relations that I know of."

"You were raised by the human church then?"

"That's right." Veridin didn't ask, but turned to him instead.

"There would be no need for a priest to be here otherwise." Anaroth gestured to the road ahead.

Veridin's eyes narrowed. When he turned his head forward, his expression turned sour; The priests he had sent to the capital were on the road ahead. Veridin halted the soldiers with his hand as they approached.

"Sir Veridin! His majesty has–" The priest glanced at Anaroth– "Who is this?"

"Give me the message," Veridin spoke sternly.

"Sir Veridin… You didn't act without confirmation from his majesty, did you?"

"I won't repeat myself again. Give me the message." Veridin held his hand out. "If the contents of the message are what I think they are, we have no problems."

Anaroth looked between Veridin and the priests. They were clearly his attendants, so had he sent them away? For what reason was their relationship so bitter?

The black haired priest clutched the scroll in his hands. "If his majesty learns of this, you could be facing treason…"

Piercing eyes bore into the two priests. "I told you I wouldn't repeat myself."

"Hand him the paper," The other priest sighed.

Veridin took the scroll from the hesitant priest and opened it. His eyes glided over the words on the paper before he rolled it back up. Even Anaroth wasn't able to read it as Veridin had tilted the paper away.

"Aren't you going to tell us what it said?"

"Aren't I your superior? You don't need to know. Let's go."

As Veridin rode past him, the high priest's agent grit his teeth. What was with this change in attitude? The Holy Knight had always treated everyone with respect, now he acts all high and mighty? This needed to be reported to the high priest immediately. The Church has clearly been far too lenient on this mutt. And who was this other man? He had a noble air to him, like he wasn't someone a normal person could touch. The rat scoffed as he looked at the two riding side by side. He turned the horse around and slowly fell in line with the wagon Rowan was riding on.

"Sir Rowan, how is your leg?"

"Ah, it's fine, father." Rowan turned to the priest with a slight smile.

"That's good to hear, but please, call me Julas."

"I wouldn't dare," Rowan chuckled nervously.

"There is no need to be nervous. We are all human here."

Rowan's eyes drifted to Anaroth. "Right…"

"Say, who is that man beside sir Veridin?"

"You don't know? That's the demon king."

"The demon king?!" This mutt's impertinence! He dares to bring the demon king to the capital?

Rowan gave him a perplexed look. "Didn't we receive his majesty's approval?"

"That's right. Haha… I suppose I didn't expect sir Veridin to bring the demon king personally."

"He certainly goes beyond your expectations a lot. Sometimes I wonder if we put too much pressure on him."

Julas's eyebrows scrunched up. Isn't it a dog's job to listen to its owner? "The church is here to support him."

As Rowan and Julas continued to speak, the other priest clutched the reins of his horse. He rode up beside Veridin with a nervous expression. Occasionally, he glanced back at the two.

"Sir Veridin, can I speak to you privately?"

Veridin glanced at him. "If you have something to say, then say it."

"It's a private matter I wish to discuss with you."

With a sigh, Veridin excused himself. He moved away, but was still within earshot of Anaroth. "Now, what is it?"

The priest took another glance, "Brother Julas, I think he's been sending information to someone."

"You've seen him?" Veridin raised an eyebrow. He hadn't anticipated this situation.

"Yes, I saw him sending a messenger bird out in the middle of the night."

"I'll trust your judgment for now but," Veridin began to return to Anaroth's side, "We'll see if that's true tonight. If it isn't, you'll be punished."

"Yes sir…" The priest watched him for a moment before falling back.

When Veridin rode up beside him, Anaroth gave him a curious look. "Are you leaving it at that?"

"There's no reason not to."

"You already knew."

Veridin glanced at him. Being next to someone this perceptive was fascinating. He gave a sly smile. "To catch a wolf alive, you have to give it bait to bite."

Anaroth swept up the parasol silently while they rode past. He planned to devour the church whole; What a frightening man. Anaroth hoisted the parasol over his shoulders, shadows darkening his face. Getting rid of the church would help the peace treaty, yet he couldn't shake this eerie feeling.

"If you knew, how come you couldn't sense them approaching?"

Veridin looked to the side, "Tell me; what is the demon kingdom like?"

Ah, avoiding the question. Anaroth sighed, "What do you want to know about it?"

"Hmm. How do you feel about it?"

"It–" Anaroth smiled softly– "It's my home. It's chaotic, and imperfect, but it's mine."

"How charming. When you speak like that, you sound so innocent."

Anaroth's eyes twitched. He had forgotten once again how irritating this man was. He grit his teeth as he spoke, "You're implying?"

"Nothing at all. I just find it strange how a king could be so pure."

The conversation ended with Veridin's shrewd smile. The noon's sun slowly fell behind the trees as they continued on in silence. Stars had begun to appear in the sky when Veridin finally halted the procession. He dismounted and stretched.

"We'll rest here for the night. The priests should take a break as well after their long journey." He looked up at Anaroth. "Will you be alright?"

Anaroth slid off of the horse and dusted off his pants. "This problem of yours doesn't concern me, the 'naive' one."

"My, I never said that. I'll finish this quickly so I can attend to you, your majesty," He mocked.

Anaroth watched him walk away. He squinted and cursed silently; Take all the time you need. I would appreciate it if you spent the night away from me, you shrewd liar.