Between Us

"You know, she really doesn't look like heroine material when she's sleeping," Edie remarked in a lowered voice.

"I don't know if that's fair," Tivra answered at a similar volume. "I mean, what is a heroine supposed to look like?"

"For starters, I don't think she's supposed to drool that much."

Zaida laid in her bunk, eyes shut and mouth agape as saliva pooled on the pillow beneath her head. The knights from the office framed her in the barracks. It was late morning, hence there were only perhaps one or two other bunks that were yet occupied. She had rested her head the night before feeling anxious; uncertain whether it was wise to leave herself ****. It was still very much possible that Yorresie would expose her. She had been so worried that she feared she would not manage to sleep at all. These fears were obliterated as the physical demands of the day caught up with her - dropping her into unconsciousness harder than a harpy with a broken wing.

The captious words roused her, and with a snort, she slowly raised her eyelids. Tivra's visage smiled down at her. Hers was a beautiful face, but that did not mean that Zaida enjoyed finding it so close and so focused straight out of her sleep.

"Did I miss something?" she asked, allowing her brow to fall. The movement of her mouth enlightened her to the dried saliva on her face which she promptly wiped away with her wrist. Attempting to orient herself, she looked around and found Edie's similarly friendly, but unwelcome, presence.

"Not unless you were hoping to do something with the first half of your day!" Edie said this like she was patronising a child.

"You're fine," Tivra assured her in a less dopey tone. "You were still supposed to be working with the train today, so you don't have any obligations to miss here in town. Not to mention that saving a few dozen lives should earn you a day to sleep in, at the very least."

Zaida then noticed the emptiness of the bunk room, and how high the sunlight that penetrated it was. "So what are you two here for then? You enjoy watching me sleep?" she asked sarcastically.

Edie dared to toy with Zaida's hair while she gave her answer. "As riveting as it is to watch you spawn a lake on your own pillow, no. We came to tell you that you've been summoned."

"By whom?"

"Some nun," Edie shrugged. "I'd tell you to enjoy your gratitude fuck, but with how much action you seem to have gotten since arriving here, I'd imagine you'd turn her down."

Tivra slapped her companion on the shoulder discouragingly. "That's... almost certainly not what she wants with you, but just in case; whom you do and don't share a bed with is entirely your choice, and not something we will judge you over," she said looking not-so-subtly at Edie.

The shorter knight held up her hands in resignation.

"Alright," Zaida said, brushing the side exchange from her mind. "Was there a time and place I was supposed to meet her?"

"Right in here," the monk indicated for Zaida. She had been led through the hospital populated mostly with survivors of yesterday's brush with the demons. She stepped past the man and into a small room containing only the essentials for someone spending more than a day there. Yorresie sat up in the bed where a magician was casting what was doubtlessly some manner of healing spell on her.

"Hello, Zaida," the nun greeted. "Please grant us some privacy," she asked the sorcerer.

Wordlessly, the mage and the monk left the other two alone, closing the door on their way out.

Zaida looked at Yorresie, almost managing to hide her discomfort. "How are you doing?"

"I am fine, thank you for asking," the nun said with only the driest sort of gratitude. "The healing sorcerers tell me I'll be fit as I was by tomorrow." She allowed the conversation to fall at that.

"You... wanted to speak with me then?" Zaida attempted to resuscitate it.

The bedridden woman maintained her hard gaze on the knight. "I imagine you're wondering why I haven't told anyone what I saw yesterday." There was a pause that followed her words, as if it had been a question, but Zaida settled on remaining silent. "Why I haven't ripped away whatever veil it is that you conceal yourself with, and left you to a fate fit for your kind. Perhaps you feel confident that you could escape the charge, hm? Pit my word against yours - the incoherent account of a blood-drained nun shaken by her first experience on a battlefield versus that of a battle-hardened veteran whose mind was clear enough to heroically prevail against impossible odds."

Again, there were no words as Zaida debated giving any sort of response.

"Tell me," Yorresie ordered, "was it premeditated?"

"Pardon?" Zaida asked, finally vocalising.

"Was it planned out? The attack? You infiltrate the knights, bide your time, then win their trust and admiration with a daring display against mock foes? That would certainly explain the enchanted creatures - wouldn't want to go and inadvertently kill your own spy."

Zaida was now perfectly clear about whether she was being queried and what about, yet still she held her tongue.

"Tell me."

Zaida broke eye contact, looking to the window at Yorresie's flank then to her own feet. She gave a sigh, and met Yorresie's eyes once more. "No, there was no plan. What I told you yesterday was the honest truth: I betrayed my Lord's will and fled to this city. I understand how convenient this all may look from where you stand, but I was no more aware of what was going on than anyone else in that train."

"You're serious?" Yorresie pried, eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Absolutely."

"Would you swear to Geod on it?"

Zaida blinked. "That... wouldn't mean anything coming from me..."

"Just testing," Yorresie relaxed. She pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out a less easy noise. "Ugh, angels above, I believe you."

"You do?" Zaida asked, immediately fearful that she may have sounded too surprised.

"I do," Yorresie dropped her hand. "Of all that transpired yesterday, there are two things I cannot reconcile." She suddenly looked up thoughtfully. "Well, three if I include the amount of blood I observed leave my leg and the fact that I'm still breathing - but for our purposes, just the two. Firstly is the fervour with which I saw you fight, and secondly is the way I saw you handle the sergeant." Yorresie paused as though she was replaying the events in her head. "At the time, I thought you were about to eat him-"

"That's silly," Zaida interrupted. "We don't eat humans; not unless our stores are running especially low. And even then we would have to be uniquely **** to consume them raw."

Yorresie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. As I was saying, I was panicked and presumptuous in that moment, but thinking back on it... yes, I believe what I saw in you was genuine concern for Puhipi. Why?"

Zaida set herself down on a stool against the wall. "I am still grappling with that question myself. Not with Marama - nor any of the knights in particular - but with..." Zaida looked at the door, only just then acknowledging that she could not know if their words could be heard. "But with humans," she whispered, "in general. I don't know why I feel an urge to... to care about you as I did for my previous compatriots."

Yorresie gazed distantly at a wall. "You cared for your former allies?"

"Of course. It makes the business of opposing them that much less explicable."

A demon caring about its allies... Yorresie thought. She pictured the nightmarish illustration in the tome from the library. That wasn't in the books... That thought in particular tugged at her memory of Wasil's seemingly deranged words. "It says nothing!... They're wrong... They don't even talk about them..." he had said.

The nun studied the other woman, who was hanging her head; wearing her cognitive dissonance on her sleeve. "I won't tell anyone."

Zaida looked up. "What?"

"Your secret is safe with me, so long as you don't give me a reason otherwise."

Zaida stared at the nun, but Yorresie avoided her gaze. The silence dragged on until Zaida stood and made her way to the door. Before she completely left the room, she looked back again, hoping Yorresie would meet her eye. She did not. "Thank you," the demon said softly.