Of

  course, just because the sword was complete didn’t mean that Arenya

  could spend the rest of her time lazing around.

  Ba’al Cedric’s board had received Benya’s notice and

  informed her that everything checked out - two free years. She’d

  received word from her parents elated that the demons had agreed to

  delay their request for money by one month after some negotiation,

  and combining that with Arenya’s newfound windfall, the farm could

  be saved. She hadn’t heard from Daniel again yet, but Mom and Dad

  assured her that he’d surely be allowed back in soon.

  With these crises resolved, Arenya could now focus on another

  exciting project: The concert in two days.

  Everyone was excited, making last-minute costume alterations and

  rehearsing their lyrics. Ya’el kept adjusting the straps of her

  Hashess outfit, absurdly complaining that it didn’t show

  skin rather than too much as Arenya kept insisting, and swapping out

  colored lenses on a pair of appearance-only glasses she’d somehow

  obtained to complete the outfit. Zelzad inspected the automata that

  were to be used for the battle sequence. Drav went through each

  instrument in turn, strumming a chord, tuning it, then repeating

  until he was satisfied with the sound before switching to the next

  one.

  Everyone seemed excited and eager… Except for one person, who

  sat off to the side of the room on a small wooden bench, watching the

  proceedings with a concerned frown.

  Arenya walked over to check on her. “Cartalis? Are you all

  right?”

  Cartalis barely shifted in her direction. “I am fine,” she

  said. “I am not the one I am concerned about at this moment, in any

  case.”

  “Don’t worry about her!” shouted Ya’el from across the

  room. “I bet she’s just on h-”

  “If you suggest that it’s my time of the month,” said

  Cartalis, “I slap you.”

  Ya’el fell silent before returning to her costume adjustments.

  Zelzad started to cough in a futile attempt to not look like she was

  laughing.

  Arenya sighed. “What is it, then? Nerves about the show?”

  “Not at all.” Cartalis hunched over and leaned in towards

  Arenya. “Don’t you think Drav is acting a little strange?”

  Arenya’s blood ran cold. “No? What do you mean?”

  “He’s moving slower than he normally would. He’s not acting

  as excited for the show as you might expect, given how much he has

  put into it. Can’t you tell?”

  Arenya shook her head. “He seems the same to me. And if I’m

  wrong, so what if he’s behaving a little off? Their first show in

  forever is soon and they’re nervous.” Arenya sat next to Cartalis

  and took a deep breath. In… out. “I’m nervous too. I’ve been

  praying to The One Above for success and I’m still so worried

  someone will forget a line or one of the costumes will rip or a focus

  will misfire or who knows what else.”

  Cartalis nodded. “So you surmise that if you are so concerned,

  he must be even more so, as he is actually going on stage. Thus

  explaining any untoward behavior.”

  Cocking her head to the side, Arenya said, “Yeah. Isn’t it

  obvious?”

  Cartalis drew her knees to her chest. “If only things were so

  simple as that,” she muttered.

  For the first time that she could recall, Arenya found herself

  growing a tad annoyed at her friend. “Why are you so worried?

  Things are going so well, and you have to bring them down with these

  concerns that don’t make any sense. Won’t you just let us be glad

  things are going well and be excited and happy about it?”

  Cartalis stared at the wall for a moment. At least she said, “I

  am sorry, Arenya. You are right. It is surely nothing, as you have

  said. And in any case, my concerns are not your business and it is

  wrong of me to let them distract you. I just need a few minutes.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Cartalis’ tone was even and blunt, almost emotionless. It was

  obvious that Cartalis was lying through her teeth about her worries

  being assuaged.

  Arenya took the olive branch nonetheless. “When you’re ready

  to join in the preparations again, just say so.”

  Within a few minutes, Cartalis took a place by Zelzad inspecting

  the automata and working out last-minute kinks in their design.

  Arenya gave a sigh of relief to herself that the upset was only

  momentary, but couldn’t quite shake the feeling that Cartalis was

  hiding something from her.

  Something… concerning.

  Cartalis slammed Drav

  against the wall. “Listen,” she said, “you lying, two-timing

  bastard. You will tell me what it is that you and Benya are up to and

  you will tell me now, or so help me, I will take your balls and -”

  “Fine!”

  Cartalis flung Drav to the side.

  “When you said you wanted me to stick around after our prep, I

  said okay, and that meant I was gonna listen to your questions. No

  need to attack me when I haven’t even said no yet.” He stood up

  and brushed dust off his sleeves.

  He was right, of course. Cartalis knew that she could prove

  herself stronger than anyone expected when she was angry, but Drav

  was tall and muscular beyond her ability to push around. She’d only

  been able to push him back because he let her - and they both knew

  it. He could easily have instead punched her in the face and run off.

  That he didn’t meant he was willing to talk. She hoped, anyway.

  Cartalis took a deep breath. “Answer me, then. Why did Benya

  tell you to ‘keep an eye on that dragon girl’? Did you know he

  was connected to your cult?”

  A muscle clenched in Drav’s jaw. “It’s not a cult. And…”

  he sighed. “No. No, I didn’t know he was part of it, but it

  doesn’t surprise me either. How do you know about that, anyway?”

  Cartalis couldn’t help but grin. “Ya’el’s one-way

  communication focus is interesting, but the Korlats don’t seem to

  have much understanding of creating secure focuses. It was the work

  of five minutes to take a reverser and an amplifier and match it to

  the mana signature of the focus, thus using it into a listening

  device rather than a receiving one. From there, I could hear

  everything you two said while Ya’el held it. So I know he ordered

  you to spy on us.” She didn’t mean to brag, but it

  quite impressive, if she did say so herself. It was also a bit of an

  exaggeration - in reality, what she heard was all fairly muffled and

  she could only catch about half the words - but he didn’t need to

  know that.

  Her grin vanished. The Fiery One screamed, demanding more answers,

  but she forced her to be silent for the moment. “So I know, now,

  that the sword is to be used for something related to…” The word

  caught on her tongue. Despite her professed lack of belief, some

  blasphemies were still hard to stomach. “Narak the Seventh, who I

  am guessing is your addition to The Six. This perhaps explains some

  of the seven-pointed star imagery Benya requested. You know Arenya

  would have never agreed to it at any cost if she’d known.”

  “Well I know!” Drav’s fists clenched and

  unclenched repeatedly. “You think I like being kept in the dark

  like this either?”

  “I am beginning to grow gravely concerned about your involvement

  in this mysterious group.”

  Drav looked towards the far wall. “You don’t understand. It’s

  not your fault. You can’t understand what it’s like to be a part

  demon with no prospects. You’re rich, and gorgeous, and the

  professors all like you. Your degree is practically given to you

  already. You can go around breaking into labs and shit and get away

  with it practically scot-free. You think anyone can get the school

  wrapped around their finger like you have? Do you have any idea what

  kind of hell would have come on my head if I’d tried anything like

  you have?”

  Cartalis wanted to be angry at him, but found his points too valid

  to justify it. She’d never thought about how easily she could get

  away with breaking rules, or whether such a privilege was unique to

  her and her ilk. Instead, she just stood there, blinking frustrated

  tears out of her eyes.

  “What do they want with Arenya?”

  “I have no idea. This is the first I heard of it. They didn’t

  even tell me what to look out for.” Drav took a deep breath.

  "Listen. Cartalis. I’m not gonna lie - I wanna focus on the

  show because I want it to be a success. But it’s not about me, it’s

  about all of us - and especially her. Arenya’s been through a lot.

  She’s struggling with school and you know it, getting food is still

  tough on her, and the last couple weeks with the farm were awful. I

  dunno what was up with the farm business, or if we had anything to do

  with it. The Se - Narak knows I would have put a stop to it if I

  could have.

  “But she’s happy now. She’s excited for the show. She’s

  glad to have us all as friends. Can’t we just give her this? Let

  her have some fun and not worry? I want her to be able to be excited

  and enjoy the show without having to think about any of this stuff.

  Can’t we give her that?”

  Cartalis gritted her teeth. She wanted to snap at Drav. To break

  his damn arm and tell him to bust Benya’s nose in the next time he

  dared show his face at Ba’al Cedric’s.

  But he didn’t deserve that. Not truly.

  “Tell him thanks,” she said at last. “For helping Arenya

  when she needed it.”

  That he was also responsible for making her need it, they both

  knew on some level, but neither of them wanted to admit it.

  With that, Cartalis turned toward the door. She didn’t look

  back. “See you tomorrow,” she said. “I hope the show goes

  well.”