Chapter 93

Chapter 93<~> Chapter 93

After a short talk with Tarklin he rearranged some of the adventurers to be the young noble's guard and let them into the loop about her origins. I could tell that the sudden change in situation had irritated Tarklin quite a bit. Silva being Fae's guard had been convenient for him but he couldn't argue under the circumstances. Fae screaming that loud in the center of camp did a lot to convince him it was necessary. There was too much going on right now to question the way Karma worked, I had to put it out of my mind for now but I would have to come back to it eventually.

We had been stopped for too long already for Tarklin's taste so after a quick rearrangement of positions we got moving again. This time Silva and I sat alone next to the coach driver on one of the carriages.

Silva stretched her strong looking arms before leaning back against the wooden back of the coach seat. "Do you have any orders for me Mistress?"

I grimaced and quickly cast a small [Zone of Silence] around us. I know I shouldn't be doing this while on the road but it was necessary to me right now. Silva raised an eyebrow, I wasn't sure if she understood what I was casting until the sound died out around us.

"A silence spell? I wouldn't have pegged you as the type."

I sighed. "First order, I order you not reveal my secrets or anything you think could be interpreted as a secret to anyone who doesn't already know. Second order, I order you not harm anyone unless you are defending yourself or someone else and when you do, only use the appropriate force the situation calls for. Lastly, this isn't an order but I would prefer you not to call me mistress, just Lilith is fine."

I had already thought about how I would word those orders. I didn't like it but I also couldn't completely trust her yet. This was an important precaution for my own safety. But the thought of using magic to compel someone else's action didn't sit right with me all the same. It disgusted me.

Silva raised her eyebrow. "Those two orders leave me quite a lot of space to roam free. Are you sure you want to loosen my leash that much. ...not that I'm complaining."

"I believe in trust. The first order is because there will be secrets that I can't afford for you to reveal and it gives you as much protection as it does me. The second order is because I don't know you well enough to leave you to your own judgement entirely but it's loose enough that your hands won't be tied either. I plan to treat you as a friend and party member like I do the others, not as a slave. I'm trusting you to return that consideration as best as you can."

"You're an odd duck. Pretty though," she said with a laugh. Her eyes trailed down my body before settling back on my face. "As unfortunate as the loss of your armor is, you do look quite a bit more attractive without it."

I smirked. "I see you're not afraid to show your attraction to other women, you look quite attractive yourself. Something my girlfriends and I share."

She shrugged. "I don't have much need to hide it. Even if the Tamin bastards had a problem with it, I'm just a slave anyway. To them I might as well be invisible, just property of another. I thought you might swing that way though, perhaps I'll have you pegged yet."

I flushed a little at the visual and cleared my throat. "Well regardless we'll have to have a long talk about everything later tonight. I don't think it's a good idea to travel with a [Zone of Silence] up for too long. We need to stay on our guard."

She nodded and I dropped the spell around us. The eerie silence slipped away and the sounds of nature returned.

"So why was it you decided to buy me anyway? Unless that's one of the things you can't tell me," Silva asked.

"To be honest, our party is short on the front line. I'm our only vanguard and I don't know if I alone can cover our ...three other party members." Silva raised an eyebrow, clearly catching the pause but knew better than to ask at the moment. "I'm also more of a hybrid between a standard fighter and a mage so while I haven't run into problems yet, it could become challenging with too many enemies."

She nodded. "Makes sense. To be honest that sits better with me than buying me as a passing fancy. It might be a bizarre thing to say as someone who hates being a slave but valuing me as more than a sob story or a piece of ass makes me feel better. I'd rather fight by your side than only warm your bed or carry your stuff. You seem to treat your other slaves with respect, hopefully I can receive similar treatment."

"Well, to start I would prefer you avoid calling them slaves as much as possible. They are, I know. I also know I'm a hypocrite for hating slavery while owning three myself. But the two of them are Pantharians and can't be freed, and you are a crime slave, enslaved for life. I can either not partake at all and let the three of you receive worse treatment or buy you and do my best to treat you as equals, even when all of us know that you're not."

Silva shrugged. "I get it, I won't rub it in or make you feel guilty over it. But I won't lie to you and tell you that I'm happy being a slave. Or treat you with respect you don't deserve. Prove that you're a mistress worth serving and I'll be loyal to you, otherwise I'll only give you my bare minimum."

I smiled. "That's fair."

She turned and looked off into the distance. "You seemed to jump at the chance to purchase me from my former mistress. I find it a little bit suspect that you would 'hate' slavery so much yet jump at the chance to buy me."

I hesitated. Maybe I was a bit eager this time?

"Is that an order?"

"...no."

She grinned wide at me before leaning in to kiss my cheek. "I think I like you already."

The coachman cleared his throat. "There aren't any from the Tamin church with us... as far as I'm aware, but I know of at least three people in the caravan who would throw a big fuss if they saw that sort of thing happen in front of them."

Silva grinned. "Good, I want to see it."

I covered my eyes with my hand. "Please try to keep us out of trouble. I have enough problems."

Silva shrugged. "Fine, but only because you asked nicely."

I couldn't help but smile. Silva probably would cause problems down the line but I found her attitude a bit refreshing. Maybe she would be a good example for the twins who still needed to loosen up a bit, become less docile.

I stretched out my arm, working out some of the residual soreness that had come from the wound and its rapid healing.

Silva looked over. "How's it feeling?"

"Still a bit sore. It feels like I pulled a muscle instead of getting metal shoved into it."

"That's pretty normal," she said.

"You've had that kind of healing before?"

Silva grimaced. "Unfortunately. Sometimes it itches like crazy too. Bella's healing is actually quite amazing. It seems much more powerful than it should at her level."

"You know her level?" I asked cautiously.

She shook her head. "It's not like I know the exact number or anything. It's just the higher level you are the more of a sense you get from it. Kind of like an instinct about how dangerous someone is relative to you. I can tell you're about the same level as me and she's a bit lower that both of us. She seems much more powerful of a healer than she should though. Especially for a nature based healer."

"Is there that much difference between the two? Is that why several people have asked her what kind of healer she is?"

"Ehhh..." Silva hesitated. "Usually when people ask you that it has more to do with how they feel about the Tamin church. What they're really asking is if you're a holy healer. It's not that holy healing is worse or anything, more that a lot of holy healers are associated with the Tamin church and that... complicates things."

I sighed. Of course it has to do with them again. Lately it seems like everything is coming back to them. "So... what? Would Fae have refused the healing if Bella had holy healing magic?"

Silva shrugged. "Probably not, she wasn't really in any position to refuse it. But having a nature healer probably warmed you up to her. The Tamin church doesn't like nature magic on the whole so it sort of proved you weren't associated with them."

"Seriously? Another thing the church hates us for? I'm starting to lose track."

She snorted in amusement. "You've had a few run-ins with those bastards?"

"You don't know the half of it." I groaned.