The noble had long flowing silver hair down to the center of her back, so clean and healthy that he almost thought it was a glamor. Narrow golden eyes looked through him, and a confident smile graced her red lips. She hadn’t moved an inch when Valya bumped into her, like an immovable shield. Her sunhat, through a useless looking bit of magic, did not block any sunlight from highlighting the glow of her fair skin. Worst of all, she had so little scent that she had to be wearing an expensive ward on her person.
August fell deeper into despair as she seemed richer the longer he looked at her. “I’m so sorry, my lady! She can get distracted sometimes, and I should’ve been keeping a better handle on her in the middle of a busy district, I take full responsibility.”
The woman extended a hand to help Valya up. “Oh it’s no issue at all. I saw her coming towards me and decided to not move.” Her voice was a smooth candor that lured the listener in without even trying.
Ice filled his veins, and a blanket of frigid clarity fell over his mind. Did the woman mean to make trouble for us deliberately then? But why admit fault? Maybe she’s so powerful that it doesn’t matter what she tells us? He wanted to slap her hand away from his precious daughter, but it would only make things worse.
The woman’s smile became troubled. “Oh, please don’t misunderstand; I merely wanted to get your attention. And call me Sophia. When I saw one of Lyra’s sisters here, I wanted to meet her, and I was in a teasing mood. I wasn’t expecting to meet her… parent as well, though.” Sophia said. August didn’t like the pause before “parent” but that was the least of his worries for now. What he wanted to know was-
“You know big sis!” Vayla yelled excitedly, looking at the woman with wonder. “She never talks about her friends.”
The woman smiled amusedly. “I suppose I do. I’ve known Lyra for about a year, and we’ve worked on a few small projects together. I’ve also recently hired her part-time to see if she’d be fit for a position I have in mind for her.”
August felt awfully suspicious about all of this. Was this woman really the employer of Lyra’s second job? Why were they both so secretive about it? His eyes flicked toward Vayla. He’d really have to teach her respect and fear for nobles; until now she hadn’t had much of a need for it, but he’d been naive.
Sophia continued, “She talks about you and your sisters quite often. I’ve heard many stories about the twelve of you; the garden faerie, the one that walked into a noble wedding and eloped with the bride, and,” she gestured to Vayla, “The gremlin who always finds her snacks, of course. You all have lived quite exciting lives.”
“That’s certainly one way to put it.” August couldn’t help but smile in exasperation. She turned to him with a gaze that made him uneasy. It took everything he had not to fidget with nerves, wondering if his soul ward was holding up or not.
“It’s not just them either, of course. I’ve heard quite a lot about you too, August; twelve Living Blades by the age of twenty six. It’s quite impressive. Most give the soul longer to heal.” The implication was clear.
Suddenly it was hard to breathe. It was only through an iron will forged over decades that he managed not to outwardly react, and even then, he was almost certain he was giving away something.
He smiled instead, “Yeah, always been a workaholic ever since learning to run a shop on my own. Lyra’s sick of it, especially now that I’ve been going at number thirteen almost every day the past half year. I’ve hit something of a road block, and I’m still not sure why.” He loosened the lid on his bottled up agitation to mask his fear.
“Well, you should probably listen to your daughter.” Sophia cautioned with a look that appeared to be genuine concern. “We do not want you to make a Demon Blade accidentally, now do we.”
August couldn’t help it this time; he flinched. He quickly covered it up, saying “I would never betray my daughters!” With the real conviction boiling in his heart.
The woman just looked at him and said, “I believe you.”
She can’t know, can she? He would already be dead, right? How much could she see then? His eyes? How did she interpret it? The last known Demon Blade was hunted down and killed three hundred years ago, and the records were hidden to prevent a repeat, so he didn’t know what aspects of him were obvious giveaways or not. He could have an invisible magic aura fingerprint or something equally arcane and never know. Shit, his breath was growing shallow. His star shaped earring could contain and muddle telepathy or empathy at least but he needed to stop it from showing. Deep breaths, five things, four things, don’t move your eyes-
“Are you alright?” Sophia says. Crap. She and Vayla were looking at me with concern, though the former was almost certainly an act. My mind raced for the most honest thing I could say right now.
“What are you trying to say to me, and what do you plan to do with my daughter, if I may ask, my lady?” Ah, yes, anger. The perfect solution to every problem.
The woman opened her mouth, her eyes flicking behind me, but I was done letting her walk all over me.
“And yes, before you ask, I am Lyra’s parent, and the classification of our relationship is between me and my Blades, not you.”
She was looking nervous now. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-“
August clamped down on the heat spreading through his limbs. “No, no, it’s fine. I get that it’s hard to understand from the outside, I really do. I’m going to treat this coincidental interaction as if you were interviewing me for the sake of getting a better understanding of your future employee, Lady Sophia. And in that case, I want to make it perfectly clear that, as someone who views himself as Lyra’s parent, that
as long as you treat her with utmost respect despite whatever opinions you may have, I will be cordial in kind.”
Hellfire blazed in his eyes behind the veil, and his voice ran cold. “But do not think you hold all the power here. If you believe you can walk over me and my family, you will be sorely mistaken.”
He felt a tug on his sleeve. Lyra was standing behind him with fearful copper eyes, reeking of conflict aversion with no easy real-world analog except for the tinge of a medical building. August blinked, feeling some of the anger bleed out of him. When did she get there?
“Thank you, dad, but she’s really not that bad, I promise…” she said pleadingly.
His eyes flicked between his daughter and the noble, who had a pained expression on her face. Ah… his anger and paranoia might have clouded his judgment, just a tad.
His face loosened from the frown that it had formed without his notice, and he tried to take a step back and look at things from an outsider’s point of view like he’d taught most of his daughters to do. He was still suspicious, but August was cautious of any noble, especially after the incident with the Brathus family just last year. The defensiveness only got worse when she mentioned August’s biggest hidden trigger, which was a reasonable and logical concern in hindsight. It was just as likely, and probably more likely, that his daughter would partner with one of the nobles who agreed with her and Asra’s work.
“I apologize, Lady Sophia. Tensions are still high between highborn and the Troublesome Twelve,” I mentioned the title with amusement.
“Oh, no, it was thoughtless of me to approach so carelessly as well.” She tilted her head apologetically. “I should know by now that people have reactions to my status. In fact, it’s somewhat refreshing to have this type of response from someone in a lower position.” She added with a sad amusement he didn’t know what to make of.
August was calmer now, but his heart was still pounding rapidly against his rib cage, filling him with a restless energy. Lyra sighed in relief at his side, looking at him with a fragile smile.
“How did you even get that bad in the first place!? It was awesome, but one moment we were chatting about the sisters, and then you whipped the claws out like you were ready to go to town!” Vayla jumped in, punctuating the description with clawed swipes through the air. It made him realize that she’d gone quiet halfway through the conversation. Shit, did he scare her?
“I asked questions that sounded misleading, I believe.” Sophia answered for him, her confident smile back.
“Yeah, pretty much. Sorry for getting all intense.” August nodded and ran a hand through her hair. “Although, I don’t take back what I said.” He added with a side eye to Sophia.
“Dad…”
“-No, it’s fine, Lyra. I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Sophia interrupted, looking at him with respect.
Lyra pouted. “Alright, but what are you doing here in the first place? I didn’t expect to see you today.” She looked down and tugged at her dress.
“Well, it was a whim actually. I just wanted to meet the family you talk so much about. I’m glad that they clearly care about you deeply.” Sophia replied, her default smile now laced with genuine happiness as she looked into her daughter’s eyes.
Lyra was blushing now. Wait, when did this happen?
“I was going to introduce you soon. I’ve just been busy with all my work as vice-captain and the new job. Haven’t had much time.” She twirled a strand of hair in her finger. The desire to impress was back by the wagon-full. My gods, she’s already fallen for her! How have I missed this?
“Speaking of the new job, have you gotten your uniform yet?” Sophia asked with a mischievous grin.
Lyra’s blush deepened and she sent a flustered glance to him and Vayla. “Y-yep! I just got it, actually. The uniform.” she punctuated, gesturing to the large bag she was now carrying. That isn’t suspicious at all.
“Wonderful, I can’t wait to see you in it,” Sophia says, and it’s only because he was listening for it that he heard a hint of seductive undertone. Wow, they’re really talking about these things out in the open. Sophia is much better at hiding it though.
The woman walked closer to Lyra with a glint in her eyes. It was only now that they were next to each other that he realized how much shorter she was than Lyra. It seemed his oldest daughter inadvertently caught some of his taste in women.
August was wondering if he should block view of them from the street like last time with Vayla, but it seemed that no one was paying attention to them despite their very public altercation before. The noble lightly cupped Lyra’s face with her right hand and leaned in to whisper something in her left ear. They gazed into each other's eyes for a moment, copper and gold locking together, before Sophia broke away.
“I’m sorry, but I have to leave now. I have a packed schedule today, and I can’t afford to be late for a meeting.” She walked away without waiting for a response.
Lyra takes a few steps to the side before collapsing against the wall, holding the dark crimson cheek Sophia held a second ago. She reeked of a scent he very deliberately ignored. Assuming Sophia’s magic was what kept attention away from them, August chose now to block the view of Lyra from the street. He was about to say something when Vayla, who had been watching from the sidelines with barely contained excitement, exploded into action.
“You have to tell us everything!”
“No!” Lyra shouts, jolting back upright.
“It does sound like something we should talk about.” August commented mercilessly.
“Nooooo!!!” Lyra looked like she wanted to throttle us, but didn’t know where to start.
“Alright, alright, I suppose there’s been enough romance for one day.” Lyra choked, and Vayla pouted. “So what’s the plan after this?”
The older sister blinked. “Right. We eat lunch, go home, and then we’ll have some family time before you go out to dinner with Asra.”
“I’m going out to dinner with Asra?” August asked, his still agitated state amplifying the knots his stomach was making.
“Yeah, she wants to talk to you about something.” Lyra says with a slight smile.
Yep. I’m doomed.
