Chapter 18: Chapter 18

A little earlier. Maya

The redheaded girl was standing by the window leading to the courtyard of the royal castle. Leaning against the rather wide window sill, she could comfortably watch the people bustling below. This was not her usual pastime, but there was no point in doing anything else right now, because there was only a little over an hour before the Council of the Order. I did not want to sit in my chambers, but I wanted to meet someone. But as there was not much time left, it would be silly to look for him in the middle of the city, but this window was a good observation point to notice any new arrivals to the castle.

And at the same time, to think a little in peace.

Like everyone else, the last few days have been eventful for Maia. First the sweep, then the cleanup, then the cleaning up of the aftermath, the settling of the nuances, and the resolution of the problems that had come out in the process. Not that it wasn't expected, but even after a month of careful planning, it wasn't possible to foresee everything. And you can not keep track of all targets at once, when trained people are disastrously few, so there were surprises that had to deal with. As a former mercenary, the girl was well aware that any plan breaks down when confronted with reality, even well thought out in detail, and was mentally prepared for something to go wrong. Fortunately, critical deviations did not happen and the whole operation was successful and with relatively small losses, the excitement among the people because of so many, seemingly unmotivated killings of so many people was avoided through the decisive actions of Mrs. Celestina, but even so the red-haired warrior's peace is only a dream. She might have, if instead of sleeping normally, she hadn't been content with only bouts of two or three hours a night.

And only last night the girl finally found herself sitting on her bed in her allotted in the royal castle chambers with the understanding that everything is over and she no longer needs right now, immediately, to run somewhere, take command of soldiers and storm another mansion stingy lord, or conduct an inspection, carefully describing all the property in the same, but already protected by someone before her. A soft bed beckoned in its arms, but she did not want to sleep at all. And not because Maya didn't want to, not at all. She was just scared, because for a month and a half she often had nightmares. Or rather, just one: a disgusting toothy mouth, an iron grip of clawed paws squeezing her wrists until her bones cracked, and a long drooling tongue sliding freely over her skin, instilling disgust and sticky, clogging her perception with fear. And worst of all, the creature that tormented the girl at night was the one she had once called a friend. And he had become such even before he took the appearance that corresponded to his inner essence. Each time, waking up in a cold sweat, the girl could not even immediately realize that it was all a dream and that in fact she is now not there, under the walls of Feo, about to be raped by a demon, and saved her from such a fate by someone whom she at first did not even perceive. Her faith in the old warrior brotherhood was too strong, too strong, and her love for one particular man overshadowed all the reasoning and evidence shoved under her nose. Only when faced with reality, when she felt for herself what her former comrades had become, did Maya realize what a fool she had looked from the outside. The shame she felt after that was impossible to describe in words.

And then there was plenty to feel guilty about, too. She had never thanked Kay for his help. It was hard to look her savior in the eye after the way she had spewed so much distrust and abuse in his direction and then shown herself to be a weak and whiny girl. Several times she tried to bring it up when we met, but each time she cowardly kept silent, promising herself that she would definitely do it next time... but here, it had been a month and a half, and she still hadn't done it.

"Weak girl" - She clenched her fists and scolded herself once more, but immediately looked around. It would be a shame if anyone saw her talking to herself in such a derogatory manner.

Frowning, the warrioress glanced around the courtyard once more. What if Kay showed up while she was distracted? But he hadn't. Some part of Maya hoped that this would continue until the meeting began, because in addition to shame, there was another feeling she was starting to feel toward Kei. And that feeling terrified her.

"Huh, falling in love with the people who saved you... how idiotic, Maya..." - she whispered softly, throwing her head back and staring at the ceiling. The last man she'd fallen in love with had once saved her, too. And then betrayed, as Hicks had made clear the last time they'd met. Deep down, Maya simply feared a repeat of that story. Vult, too, had once seemed reliable, strong, indestructible. Someone she wouldn't hesitate to follow into the thick of it. But the image of the perfect man was a lie. And no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that it didn't bother her, she was forced to admit that she was left with a deep wound on her soul that wasn't sure it would ever heal.

What if Kay betrayed her, too?

The thought, now and then, flashed through the swordswoman's mind. Maya was well aware that it was foolish to put two people as different as Vult and Kay together, they had nothing in common, literally not a single similar character trait. But that difference didn't keep the fear from getting under the girl's skin, confusing her thoughts and shackling her heart with a cold vice.

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And yet, she was drawn to him. To this alien from a distant world that had come and turned everything upside down. She couldn't help but be drawn, after all that had happened. And now, these two extremes: fear and desire, fought within the girl, keeping her awake. Amid all the other problems, it turned her life into one solid streak of overexertion, because after the day's work, night's sleep, as well as rare moments of rest, did not bring relief, but turned into exhausting sessions of self-coping or nightmares.

Maya was sick of it.

[Stop whining!] - Shaking it off, she mentally slapped herself. - [Just go do it!]

What exactly "do," the girl didn't have time to think, because she suddenly found that the situation outside had changed dramatically. The redheaded mercenary herself did not notice how she withdrew into herself, digging into her own thoughts. Naturally, in such a state, she stopped paying attention to what was going on in the courtyard, and so she missed the appearance of the one she was thinking of. And his confrontation with Luu-Luu on the training ground, too, pulling herself out of her thoughts only toward the very end to be surprised to find a small crowd gathered to watch the fight.

[Damn... too much thinking again,] - the girl thought, shaking her head and ruffling her unruly hair. - [What's going on in there anyway?]

Her curious gaze swept across the sandy ground, noting the potholes and gaps in the still recently flat surface, the clearly impressed onlookers, and finally the two familiar figures, one pinned to the ground by the other, kicking and sputtering curses. It took only a couple of seconds to find out exactly who was fighting, as well as to figure out what was going on at all. The halfling princess had decided to beat someone up again, only this time she'd chosen a target beyond her grasp. Maya even shrugged shakily, remembering her sparring with the halfling girl, after which her body felt like a sandbag. That girl never had a word in edgewise, and was quick to retaliate. Of all the Order, she was the one who enjoyed the battles most.

On the whole, Luu-Luu was not a bad person in spite of her explosive character, but she truly respected only her sisters in the Order, disregarding everyone else. She had been told many times that this would one day lead to not the most pleasant consequences, and now, that day had come. It was also fortunate that Kay was the one who was the first to be able to match the little girl's considerable strength.

[I have to go and make sure everything is okay.] - Maya decided to herself, and, pushing her hands off the window sill, she walked quickly toward the stairs leading downstairs. She was going to meet Kei and talk anyway.

Wasn't she?

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