We sat in silence on our respective beds. I tried to look anywhere but at Louise. I didn’t want her to feel obligated to say anything.

  She quietly nibbled on her skewer. Swinging her legs as she stared down at her feet.

  She wore a nice pair of boots, a little worn from travel but still nice. Why am I staring at her shoes? Ugh, I’m just… I’m just gonna go to bed.

  I rested on my back. I don’t know what this bed was made of exactly but it was actually quite soft. You know, if you didn’t move too much.

  I closed my eyes and rested my hands on my chest.

  “L-Lafayette, is it okay if I ask you something?”

  I opened my eyes and glanced at Louise. “What’s up?”

  Louise tapped her thighs a few times. “H-how are you so relaxed? About everything? I-I mean, why aren’t you scared? Like I am?”

  “What? Who told you that?” The words escaped me before I could think. Louise flinched immediately.

  “I-I’m sorry, forget I asked.” She brought her knees to her chest and shrank into her cloak like a turtle in its shell. “I’m so sorry.”

  Damn it, I’m a real smooth criminal aren’t I?

  I sighed deeply and sat up. “Don’t apologize, you did nothing wrong. It’s just, what gave you the idea I wasn’t scared?”

  Louise looked up at me. “O-oh, well you don’t stutter like me. And you don’t shake every time you hear a noise.” She sniffed as tears welled in her eyes. “A-and you never mentioned how much you miss your family.”

  She gripped her knees.

  “I miss my parents. Every time I think about them I remember how I’ll never see them again and it hurts. It really hurts a lot. Sometimes Daniel makes me feel better, but then I think about how this will be the rest of my life. Running and hiding, always being afraid…”

  The dragon in my head groaned. “By the Creation dragons' wings, this whelp is so pathetic. Crying about the dead doesn’t resurrect them. Tell her, boy. Tell her she’s being a fool.”

  Silence you overgrown lizard, not everyone is as heartless as you. Besides, there’s a good chance I would’ve ended up like this.

  The dragon scoffed, “I’d let this world burn, before that happens.”

  Touching.

  I stood to my feet and approached Louise. “Louise, can I be honest with you?”

  She wiped her nose. “Were you lying? I don’t understand, what did you lie about?”

  I closed my eyes and smiled. This girl is a damn mess. But that’s okay, I can be patient.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Louise, I never lied. But I haven't been completely honest with you either. I am terrified, you know?”

  “You are?”

  I placed a hand over my chest. “I know it looks like I have everything under control but that is so far from the truth it’s absurd. But, there’s one thing that keeps me going.”

  “What’s that?”

  I placed my hands on my hips. “I wanna kill my mother.”

  She blinked. “W-what?”

  I gave a long and firm nod. “Yep, sounds crazy but a great motivation for me is getting back at the person who ruined my life. I want them to know they didn’t break me, they didn’t break my spirit.”

  Louise’s eyes widened as I continued.

  “It’s not all romantic and I’m 100% certain I’m going to die. But, I refuse to live in fear, no one owns me. This is my life to live, and I want her to know that.”

  The room fell into a long and awkward silence after that. Louise just stared at me like I was batshit insane. And you know, maybe I was.

  Eventually, Louise let out a soft sound that I recognized as a giggle. “You’re crazy, just as crazy as Daniel.” She smiled softly as the tears stopped rolling down her cheeks.

  “Give me a little credit, I’m not that crazy.”

  Louise closed her eyes as she wiped her tears. “He said the same thing. He refused to live a life of silence because life is short and he wanted to go out with a bang.”

  She opened her eyes and stared into mine.

  “Vis said she’d kill him if he died. I-I still don’t get that, but I know she loves him. So maybe being like Daniel isn’t all bad? Right?”

  I chuckled. “You know what? You’re right, here’s to being more like Daniel.”

  I held out my hand.

  She took it with a gentle grip. “To being more like Daniel.”

  A few seconds of warm and gentle silence passed, before the mood was ultimately shattered.

  THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

  “Ah, Daniel you’re being too hard, the kids are, AH, FUCK DON’T STOP!”

  Was that… Vis?

  Louise’s gaze shifted to the wall. Her face turned redder by the second. “O-oh, they’re like rabbits, haha, like those people say.”

  She looked at me with a forced smile.

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “These people have the worst timing in history.”

  — — —

  In the morning I woke up with a stretch and a yawn.

  The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, on days like these, kids like me should really invest in earplugs.

  Last night was awful.

  Louise didn’t seem bothered by it, but I’m guessing she’s gotten used to it at this point.

  Which is just terrible.

  Speaking of Louise, where the hell is she? She wasn’t on her side of the room, did she get up before me?

  Thunk.

  A knock on the door.

  I slid out of bed and opened the door. Louise was on the other side, standing with a tray filled with tea and sandwiches.

  She trembled like a dry leaf in winter winds, but she was here.

  “I-I have breakfast. If you want any, I got it for us, well Daniel forced me. But I don’t mind.”

  She smiled at me.

  I returned the smile and took the tray from her. “Forced or not, thank you.”

  “Y-you’re welcome!” She hesitated, “Uhm, Lafayette?”

  I took my seat on a bed. “What’s up?”

  Louise stood near the door and awkwardly rubbed her shoulders. “Is it okay if I sit next to you?”

  I patted my mattress. “Sure.”

  Louise sat beside me. She kept a modest space between us, about a foot. Honestly, all things considered, this was a big step for her.

  I placed the tray between us and picked up a sandwich. It was a basic thing, two pieces of bread and some mystery meat.

  I bit into it, chewing with a contemplative expression. Louise watched me, before she bit into her own sandwich.

  We ate in silence.

  After finishing our sandwiches we washed them down with the tea. It tasted like sweet dirt but I guess it’s better than nothing.

  After breakfast, we headed downstairs where the first thing to catch my attention was Daniel. He had a small morning crowd around him as he balanced a sword on his tongue.

  “Whoa, how is he doing that?” One demon mused.

  “Truly, humans are the strangest creatures,” another noted.

  Vis was sitting quietly at a table. When she noticed us she stood up and approached Daniel. She kicked the inside of his knee.

  He stumbled forward, and his sword dropped to the floor with a loud clang. “Damn it, Vis, what did you do that for?

  She gestured a thumb over at us. “Kids are ready, so it’s time to go.” She walked out without another word. Daniel looked up at us and smiled.

  “Took ya long enough.” He winked.

  — — —

  We left the inn and returned to the stables where the orcs were wheeling out our wagons. The war hounds were already loaded up in their cages.

  I rushed to Gargon’s side and scratched under his snout. “Did they treat you well, huh boy? Did they? Did they?” Gargon howled as his tail wagged and thumped against the cage floor.

  I laughed as I avoided his lick, his breath smelled like monsters and butt. Still, he was a good boy.

  Daniel stepped behind me and gripped my shoulder. “Kid, don’t you think you’re showing him a little too much affection? He’s a warhound ain’t he?”

  I looked over my shoulder and glared.

  “I don’t ever wanna hear you talk about too much affection. You know how weird it was last night? Louise and I had to listen to that crap while staring at each other.”

  “You’re embellishing things.”

  My face darkened.

  “It was hell, thirty minutes of agonizing hell.”

  Daniel hummed. “Damn, only thirty? Usually, I hit sixty.”

  SIXTY MINUTES STRAIGHT?!?!

  “You’re lying! I swear you’re lying that’s not even possible!”

  Daniel laughed, “Don’t hate me because I have stamina like a beast. Maybe if you stopped playing dog groomer you’ll find a woman to practice with.”

  He climbed up onto his wagon. “Better yet, maybe Louise will notice you, if you give her a chance.”

  He plopped down in his seat with a grin wide enough to show his teeth. “Lafayette.”

  “What!”